Past: Show me your Soul
by MackaPacka2203
Summary: Djinn weren't supposed to stray from their assignments, on misstep would spell certain death. How could she possibly keep every rule when so much was at stake? A Hunters sole purpose was to rid the world of evil. Nothing was allowed to get in the way of their assignment, even if it would mean death. What are you supposed to do when the thing keeping you from success is capable of
1. 1: Kaidence-Beginnings are always Normal

"Boo bitch, I'm home." Kaidence says, kicking open the front door with a foot and stumbling through carrying a giant bag of groceries. "I got dark chocolate, 90% as ordered." She says, throwing the packet over to Xena.

Xena grins, ripping the wrapper away and taking a giant bite out of the dark sweet. "This is why I love you."

Kai grins back, dumping the other two bags on the kitchen island. "Aw, you know I can't say no to you." She says, smiling as she began putting the groceries in their respective places. The girls had recently moved in with each other as roommates, sharing a small and cozy house. Kaidence was studying psychology, and was planning on being the most successful psychiatrist in Mystic Falls. It was a small town, but she had big hopes.

She had run from so much, she had to try to live a better life here. That was all guaranteed no one figured out what she was, or what she could do. But she'd deal with that when that day came.

"What do you want to make for dinner?" She asks Xena, coming out of her thoughts. "You rest, I'll make something nice." Xena replies, pushing Kai out the kitchen. Kaidence laughs but obliges, sliding onto a bar stool and leaning on the benchtop. "So, tell me something I need to know." She says, wiggling her eyebrows.

"Nothing much. Everything's still boring here." Xena replies, shrugging. "Ah well, let's hope we get some interesting news soon then." Kaidence shrugs, mentally glad that nothing was happening, no one was hurt or worse, dead.

She was safe. For now.

Looking up at Xena humming and moving around the kitchen, she wondered how she would broach the topic if it were ever to come up. "Oh hey Xena, before you go out for the groceries, just wanted to tell you that I'm a magick that has been reencarnated several times and has the power of telekinesis and enhanced senses. I could probably kill our next door neighbour just by snapping my fingers. Anyways, please don't forget to get coffee when you go out, and carry an umbrella cause it might rain. Bye!"

Sighing she shook her head again, needing a drink. She almost stretched out her fingers, expecting a glass of water to fly towards it, but refrained, clenching her fist. She couldn't show her magic.

Any trace of it would alert them of where she was. So she had to keep her head down. She had been running from herself for years now. She was a survivor, she would make it. And if anyone tried to hurt Xena, god forbid, she would screw them over.

Hoped you liked it!


	2. 2 Xena - A Day in the Life

"Blue? Again?" Kai sighs, picking up a strand of Xena's now slightly darker blue hair. It was originally a dusty baby blue, Kaidence seeing her with the look in the morning and coming home to the fourth colour change of the week.

"It's pretty." Xena defends, pouting comically.

"How do you even get the money for this?" Kai drops the weekly shopping and starts pulling and playing with Xena's hair.

"Oh, y'know, money." She shrugs, grunting when Kaidence yanks on a piece of hair particularly hard, mumbling about how her hair isn't crumbling to bits.

Dismissing her friends suspiciously healthy blue hair, Kai starts unpacking groceries.

With a strained 'hup', Xena jumps up from the couch and makes her way across the dingy city apartment to her room.

The narrow hallway to the bedrooms is bare apart from the scattered pieces of photography and art that the two had collected over the years, mixes of desert landscapes to war scenes.

The hardwood floor creaks under Xena as she shuts the door to her room. The floor is strewn with papers and other important documents of a case that Xena had been working on.

Stepping over the literally priceless, irreplaceable documents, Xena yanks on a pantsuit and flicks on some light makeup. She had a court case in a half hour.

Her client was accused of murder (but from what she had said (and thought), she wasn't) and came to her begging for help.

Finding her honorable, Xena agreed to help.

Today was the third of six hearings Xena was required to be present for, although she would appear at all of the nine.

The past two sessions had been about discussing evidence and other legal boundaries with the clients and speaking with the judge, handing over papers.

The rest of the week would require Xena to present her evidence in a bid to deem her client innocent. However, because of the scarecrow evidence, Xena would have to twist this case slightly, bending the court laws.

Stepping out of the apartment and saying goodbye to Kai, who lay lazily on the couch watching some garbage trucker show, Xena makes her way to the subway.

Darting into the toilet to change her hair from a deep sea blue pixie cut to jet black bob, Xena mentally preps for the hearing.

"That was brutal," Xena's client sighs, eyes wide, brows furrowed.

"I know." Xena shakes her head, eyes sore and jaw slack. She had questioned her opposition with as much force as she could allow herself, asking harder and harder questions until the judge had to ask her to refrain from making the client cry.

They were dismissed from the courtroom for a recess period, Xena letting her plan fall into play.

Heading to the vending machine, she jams in a couple of dollar coins, producing a bottle of water. She couldn't break the seal, so she would need to be quick.

Tapping the bottle twice, the water goes a cloudy, sandy colour before clearing to become just like regular water.

With her new strategy, she searched the crowds for the client she had just grilled.

Upon spotting him, Xena jogged over and called him out, "Hey, sorry for being so rough back there," she apologises, giving him a tap on the shoulder.

The body was mutilated, the ass and thighs eaten.

Dragged through the woods and buried six feet under a dead dog.

The ring finger still in freezer in a bag of peas.

The visions of brutal murder flood into Xena's mind as she has to cough to cover up her gasp of horror.

Case confirmed, she pulls out the bottle of water, "take it easy. I won't grill you as much next time. Sorry again."

She apologises, handing him the bottle of water, which he greedily uncaps and guzzles. Xena smiles and leaves.

This was why she loved her job.


	3. 3 Dream of Reality

The world was simple, it was dark and it was warm. The night was humid and she walked through the forest. It was normal, completely normal for her and she arrived at her clearing.

Jaw clenched, she noted that it was not empty anymore, a dark figure standing in the middle of it.

"Who are you?" She asks, head turning slightly and hands splayed open on either side of her, the silver strings of her magic already twining around her fingers.

The figure stepped into the moonlight, a small patch of weak and silvery light. She could now see that it was a male, tall and well built with a dark aura around him.

Her senses heightened again, her head spinning. She was still getting used to this whole power thing, and it didn't help that the magic came to her whenever it decided to.

"You're the last," he says, voice raspy and deep. "The last one of you, the last one."

His aura was spreading now, she could see that with her powers. It spread like a blanket around the clearing, covering, enveloping the exits.

"The power, the magic," he groans as if on drugs. "I need it, it feeds on you, I need it!"

"Stay back." Kai replies in the calmest voice she could muster at that moment.

"He won't mind, he will understand, the magic," he groans again, on his knees now. "The magic in your blood, I need it, it calls, it sings out to me."

She wasn't prepared for the attack, his body colliding into hers as he hisses. She could see his face clearly now, warped and distorted from all angles, the skin twisted and seemingly burned in several places, pocketed and covered with scars.

"Get off me!" She screams as he sinks his teeth into her wrist. A sudden wave of anger hitting her, her other hand flew up, her palm colliding with something on his face which let out a sickening crack.

She could only shuffle back a little, using her one hand as he reared back, one twisted hand covering his nose.

"How dare you harm one of his servants?" He roars, leaping forward before falling to the ground a few inches in front of her, collapsing into a pile of ashes which blew away into the wind.

Gasping in pain, she gaped at the arrow that protruded from her leg, gritting her teeth and yanking it out.

Realising with some shock that the arrow had gone straight through the demon and sunk into her calf, she looked around for the owner.

Not seeing anyone, she got up slowly, limping away from the site, not seeing the figure that stole away into the shadows, disappearing into the darkness.

That was how she woke up, sweating and hand raised in defence to...nothing.

That was the first night she had spent running, her leg throbbing, but she didn't care.

To this day, she didn't know who "he" was, or what kind of demon had attacked her, or why she was even particularly important.

Shaking her head, she pulled up her legging, examining the scar that stood out there before looking at her wrist, where a faint half circle of marks still remained, shuddering.

She still had the arrow, which she had cleaned and kept safe, not wanting to throw it away.

It had travelled with her for hundreds of years now, when she moved from one place to the next.

Heading to her cupboard, she opened it, pulling out the small, black wood box on the second shelf, about the size and shape of a shoebox.

She twisted the combination lock until it clicked open, revealing a bunch of small things.

Amongst everything, she pulled out the arrow. It was about the size of her forearm and as thin as a drinking straw. But the head was still incredibly sharp, she noted, pressing a pointer finger on the needle like point.

Hearing noises from downstairs which probably meant Xena was up, she packed everything with incredible speed.

Stretching, she changed quickly, sighing in familiarity at her clothes. Dark red shirt, black pants, black heeled boots and her signature black leather jacket. She finally put her bracelet on, a winding silver snake that was lazily curled up along her right forearm. A flick of her wrist would turn it into a whip or a spear, depending on which she needed at that particular moment.

Finally equipped, she applied a coat of dark red lipstick, shrugging on her bag and heading downstairs.

Clattering downstairs, she stopped when spotting Xena.

"Hey!" She says.

"Hey, early day out?" Xena asks, nodding to her loaded bag.

"Oh, yeah! Um...I guess," Kai replies, shrugging.

"What's up?" Xena asks, leaning on the kitchen island.

"Nothing much...will probably be back home late." She says, shrugging again.

"Okay, no prob, I'll probably be up watching late night tv anyways so yeah." Xena replies.

Kai grins, nodding and entering the kitchen and placing her bag on the counter, rummaging through the cupboard for the coffee box.

"Oh hey, by the way, do you think I should dye my hair a burgundy or a maroon next?" Xena asks, frowning as she twirls a lock of blue.

"Um, burgundy." Kai replies, sipping her coffee.

"Okay, will do," Xena pipes happily. "Bye!" She adds, watching as Kaidence waves with one free hand, picking up her bag and hurrying out the front door.


	4. 4: Case Cleared

MackaPacka is back at it again! Enjoy!!

With the opposition safely drugged up, Xena's interrogation would be plain and simple.

Her client on the other hand seemed nervous, her whole body reeking of bad vibes.

Shaking her head lightly, dismissing it as trivial matters, Xena let herself be lost in the courtroom.

"I only have one question for you," she begins, looking up to the judge and quickly adding, "and much apologies about my boldness but-" Xena's head snaps to the client, "how did you kill her?"

The client stills in an emotional yet uncontrollable battle, the judge looking on in outraged shock. Their head bows and fists clench, every fibre of their meek being resisting the urge to speak the truth.

"I stabbed her!" They yell into the full courtroom moments later, their face a perfect picture of agony, "I killed her and then ate her." They slump, defeated.

The judge falls back in their chair, completely aghast. The jury follow suit.

"Thank you your honour," Xena tips her head and takes her seat.

From across the courtroom, the oppositions lawyer has his head in his hands, a failed case is never a good case.

The judge collects themselves and sits up straight, shooting a glance at Xena, she asks the client in question, "where is her body, I'm sure her family would want to be at peace."

Now in tears, the client sobs out an address, telling the courtroom that the body is underneath the corpse of a dead dog, to hide their tracks.

The family of the accused start to file out, some looking sick to the stomach, others completely horrified.

Xena leans back in her chair, face serious but mind screaming delightful justice. Her client sits next to her, staring open-mouthed at her ease.

For the next hour and a half, the case is cleared up, the judge scraping the final pieces of the evidence together in order to reach a verdict. The jury obviously deemed the man guilty and the judge had him serve a minimum life sentence and a maximum two and a half life sentence.

Stepping out of the building, Xena's client dashed up to her, thick envelope in hand.

"Not sure why you wanted the payment in cash, but thank you so much for your service. I am an innocent woman thanks to you," she smiles, handing over the bulging envelope of notes to Xena, who only smiles and watches as she dashes back to her family who await with open arms.

Stepping out into the street, a younger woman tugs on her suit. Xena turns, confused.

"Hello, so sorry to bother you. I'm a University student and I was just in the courtroom with you. I just want to say that what you did back there was amazing." She gushes.

The girl is shorter than Xena, her curly, oaken hair tied into a tight ponytail. She wears a loose, cream sweater and mid-waist business pants, held up over her thin hips with a brown, leather belt. Her skin is tanned and her eyes a startling shade of shamrock. She was pretty.

Smiling, Xena faces her fully, "Hey, what's your name?"

"Phoebe," she shrinks back slightly in embarrassment.

"Nice to meet you, were you here with a group?"

"Yeah, we were watching our professor take that case," she gestures to a group a little ways away, "he was your opposition,"

"Oh," Xena makes a strained face, feigning awkwardness, "tell him I said hi."

"Haha, I will," Phoebe laughs, clutching some books to her chest.

"What are your majors?" Xena asks casually, keeping conversation going.

"Criminal, but I'm taking a lean toward commercial." She tilts her head in a shrug.

"Well, if you've made it this far, you're sure to make it in either of those paths."

"How did you get into the law?" Phoebe asks, peeking up to look at Xena directly with her green eyes.

She swears, her insides melted a bit. "Oh, y'know, justice," Xena smiles, scratching the back of her head.

Phoebe nods, looking down at her feet, "anyway, I best be going. Thank you so much for your time, sorry to have bothered you." She speaks quickly before turning away to rejoin her group.

"Hey! Wait-" Xena grabs her arm before she goes too far out of reach.

Phoebe looks startled, face beetroot red.

"You wouldn't happen to be free next Friday night?" Xena asks, trying not to look desperate.

Phoebe's eyes go wide before she stammers out a yes.

Xena grins and pulls out a pen from her breast pocket. She holds Phoebe's hand as she scribbles her number neatly on her supple skin, writing her name and doodling a love heart for good luck.

Smiling, Xena waves her off, noting the pink on her cheeks.

Good day.


	5. 5: Kaidence - Foreign Ground

Whoop whoop, R again. This is a long one!

She had a job to do.

After being attacked by one of those demons, she was annoyed.

Really annoyed.

So over the years, she found herself a seraphim blade as well as her trusty whip.

No demon had followed her since she killed the first one. That didn't mean that she didn't try to hunt and kill them anyways.

She got onto her motorbike, a lovely and shiny black thing, revving the engine ad setting off to her location.

Entering the clinic, she smiled at the receptionist there, Dinah.

"Ms. Lykel! Your first patient is waiting," she says cheerfully, Kaidence nodding gratefully and heading into her office.

She quickly made sure she was defended from all angles, her snake whip coiled round her arm as the bracelet and her seraph blade under her desk.

The first fifteen minutes of the consultation went smoothly enough. And then the patient struck, leaping out of the soft couch and at her.

With a flick of her wrist, the snake unwound until it was ramrod hard and straight, a staff.

One jab was all it took for the demon to burst into flames before disappearing without a trace.

Really. They were making it too easy nowadays.

Sighing as she killed yet another one, she continued throughout her day, managing to find normal patients who she helped and after a long day, she headed to the second spot.

A nightclub. Hotspot for demons and vampires and all the other ghoulies that you would ever wish to meet.

Entering the dimmed room, she looked up with distaste at the flashing lights.

Discarding her bag safely in a toilet cubicle, which she locked and climbed over, she entered the teeming crowd full of sweating and dancing bodies.

It took her about three minutes to find her target.

Of course, it was another vampire, of course he was looking around for some poor, innocent girl to prey on.

Placing a drunk and ditzy smile on her face, Kai danced over to where he leaned against the wall.

"Hey," she giggled. "Want to like...get out of here for a while?"

That was all it took, she even led him to a storage room at the back of the club, the idiot.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"My name is Kaidence Lykel." She replies, snapping back into her normal behaviour, the snake whip uncurling again. "Heard of me?"

"Your name is one whispered in the underworld," he says, grinning. "How fortunate I am to meet you. And to finish you off myself."

"How naive of you." Kaidence replies.

He struck, a movement she didn't expect, and she recoiled, flicking her arm, the whip curling around his leg. Yanking him forward, she pulled out the seraph blade, ready to finish him off, only for him to strike again, sinking his teeth into her upper arm.

"Ow, jeez!" She says crossly. "What is it with you people and trying to bite my arms?!"

Annoyed, she strikes with the blade, only for him to jump back.

"I've faced older than you and survived." He hisses, eyes red.

"I've faced worse than you," she replies.

He strikes again, and she feints to the left, before the whip coils around his neck and she snaps it.

While he is recovering, she pulls out the seraph blade again, stabbing him through the chest and sighing with relief as he disappears in a burst of black sparks and dust.

Gasping, she sinks to the floor, grabbing a nearby strip of cloth and tying it around her arm to stem the bleeding.

"Nicely done," a voice says, making her spin. "Although I don't appreciate you taking my kill."

"Excuse me?" Kaidence says, coughing. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

A male comes into view, a bow and arrow aimed down at her.

She is up in an instant, the snake whip coiling around her arm. "Shadowhunter." She hisses the name, the name of his kind, the seraph blade out. "Who are you?"

"Kaidence Lykel." He says, lowering his weapon. "We've been looking for you."

"I don't care, I don't have anything to do with your kind," she replies, shoving past him.

She expects him to stop her and turns once, noting with surprise that he is gone.

Frowning, she heads back home, not noticing the shadowed figure following her there.

Her dreams are full of nightmares of blood and fury long gone and lost.

To her anger, more like the guy she had met in the nightclub appeared, swarming the land with their weapons, destroying everything in their wake.

"No, get away!" She yelled, pulling away a Shadowhunter from an unconscious figure.

"What are you doing? That was my kill!" The guy from the club replies angrily, hair a bright pink.

She wakes up with a start, shooting out of bed and armed with the blade in a heartbeat.

She faces seemingly nothing, the blade shining a dull white in the darkness.

Stilling her breathing, she focuses and watches as her aura fills the room, a silvery colour, smooth and flowing, only to meet another one in the dark shadows of the room, a navy blue, dark and bold.

She pads over to that corner, the blade still raised and strikes as an arm comes out of the darkness to attack her.

The intruder deflects, moving to the right side and she swings the dagger there next, the other hand already flicking to release the whip.

Too slow though, she is hurled backward into her bed, letting out a noise of pain.

Gritting her teeth, she leaps off, grabbing the intruder by the arm and twisting it behind their back. Not taking any chances, she places a knee on their back, forcing them to the floor.

Turning the person, she gapes when she sees the face. "You AGAIN?!" She asks incredulously, looking at the guy from the club.

"Yes, me." He hisses, tapping the ground with a free hand.

She narrows her eyes, letting him up.

"Why the hell are you following me? I haven't done anything to upset your kind!" She says angrily, arms crossed, the seraph blade still in reach.

"I saved your ass once, can't you listen to me?" He snaps, arms crossed in return.

"What the hell do you mean?" She asks, frowning slightly.

"I mean, you would easily have become liquid lunch for that demon if I hadn't killed it!" He snaps, glaring down at her.

"Well, thank you. Now, get out." She says. "How did you even get in?" She asks, looking in slow realisation to the open window. "You scaled up the goddamned apartment just to get into my room?! What level of creep are you?!" She asks, shaking her head.

"It was urgent," he shrugs. "Now, if you would be kind enough as to put your seraphim blade down?"

She raises her eyebrows, the knife not moving.

Sighing through his nose, the male looks at her, bored and unimpressed.

"You haven't even told me your name or purpose. Why should I listen to you?" She shrugs.

"My name is Eric Bloodstone. I am a Shadowhunter. Are you happy now?" He replies.

"And why the burning, black hells are you in my apartment at two in the morning." She asks, sitting on her bed.

"We need your help. And in turn, we offer protection," he says, sitting on the floor opposite her.

"And you thought the best course of action would be to barge into my dreams and house?" She asks.

He cracks a grin. "House, yes I did barge into. But I wouldn't touch your dreams. It's not my fault I'm so likeable if you're dreaming of me."

She snorts, placing the knife down but the snake still curled around her arm. "You have my attention, Shadowhunter. Speak."

"Have you ever wondered who, or rather what, 'he' was? The 'he' that the first demon was referring to?" He asks, crossing his legs.

"No. And I don't want to know." Kaidence replies.

"Think of the very first demon. Satan himself." He says, ignoring Kai's glares. "And he wants YOU because you're the last of your kind."

"He won't get me. I'll just keep running," Kaidence replies.

"For how long?" He asks, hazel eyes scanning her. "How long can you run from Satan himself?"

"Fine, what are you suggesting then?" Kaidence asks, crossing her legs up on the bed.

"Come with me. I'll take you back-"

"To the Shadowhunter hideout? Thank you but no." Kai replies.

He tightens his jaw. "Well then what do you propose?"

"I'm willing to help you with your demon hunting. I've got a lot of time on my hands anyways." Kai replies. "But I'm not going to some tribal camp with you on a whim, and I can protect myself."

"Absolutely not." He replies. "If anything, you're going to do training with me. Deal?"

Kaidence thought over all that they had discussed. "And I don't want Xena in any of this. She doesn't need to be involved in this whole mess." She frowns.

"How do you know that I know who Xena is?" He asks.

"You followed me, watched me kill two demons, stalked me to my house, climbed up god knows how many floors to get into my BEDROOM, you probably know the whole goddamn plan of this flat and you expect me to believe that you don't know anything about my roommate?" Kai asks incredulously. "You must be acting, or really, really dumb."

He frowns. "I probably won't be interacting with her at all. Her kind and ours...they don't mix well."

"What do you mean?" Kai asks, curiously.

He turns dark eyes onto her. "Think of bloodshed and murder and a war that is still going to this very day. She's a demon, and we hunt those."

"You will not even think of touching Xena. I don't care if you're a Shadowhunter, a faerie or Satan himself. You harm her, and the truce is over." She hisses back. "And don't you dare speak of her that way. She's a human!" She protests, a faint flicker of doubt in her mind as she thinks of Xena's hair amongst other oddities.

Once again, he watches her quietly. "Point proven," he says, not specifying whose. "I'll be back today sometime."

With that, he proceeds to walk to the window.

"And come in through the front door maybe?" Kai tells him.

"Not a chance," he replies, jumping straight out the window.

She runs over to it to see him land harmlessly on the road below, casually walking along with a bow and quiver of arrows at his side, obviously invisible since no one was batting an eye at him.

Sighing, Kaidence falls back on her bed to salvage the last few hours of sleep, wondering what kind of suicide mission she had just signed up for.


	6. 6: Xena - Two Worlds Collide

Lets get some backstory into this biatch!

Image above is the Djinn that Xena is.

Djinn weren't supposed to leave their confinements. They were not supposed to stray any further from their set plan.

From their creation, Djinn were to remain on their planets. They were to watch over the life that dwelled there. They set paths, kept the balance.

That was Xena's sole purpose. Keep the balance.

the ceiling was boring him, the cracks now embedded so deeply into Steve's mind that it made memorising them pointless.

During these times, Xena resorted to walking. She strayed for long hours during the night; trudging along the empty footpaths, never knowing, nor remembering where she was or where she'd been. She walked aimlessly for hours, only until she found herself back in front of the same building she had left from.

These nights stopped the buzz of everything else for Xena. It gave her a chance to mull over whatever it was she was thinking.

The cold concrete was comforting, almost. But it always led her back to sleepless nights and cold bedsheets.

Xena contemplated turning around and going back from the building, but withdrew the thought, feeling her now deprived insides grumble for food.

Sne sighed, body feeling heavy. Entering the apartment block and heading to her room, she found that her door was ajar.

For a fleeting moment, Xena felt the urge to go back down and avoid having to fight. But, naturally, the thought was put down just as quickly as it came.

She pushed open the door slowly, stepping in silently. She observed the kitchen and living room for any signs of movement.

Creeping slowly down the hall, she peeks into Kai's room, seeing nothing but a neat desk, pile of clothes and an empty bed. Odd.

Xena was beginning to think that she was just being stupid for assuming someone had broken in, and that she had left the door open herself when there was a clatter of wood.

Hearing the noise from her own room, Xena raises her guard, edging the door open slightly.

The figure crouches down, the night still shadowing their identity. They clumsily pick up an array of brushes that lay scattered on the floor. Cursing under their breath, they pick each and every one up and place them back as quietly as possible into their respective jar.

Xena watches as they fiddle idly with her paints, examining the brands and colour, flipping through her commission pieces.

"Oi! What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Xena barks into the silence.

The figure all of jumps out of their skin, hand clutching their chest in shock, other arm disappearing behind their back, "Jesus, you scared me!" They growl gruffly, a laugh interwoven in their words.

Taken aback by the sheer idiocy of it, Xena closes her eyes, roughly massaging them until she could see spots under her closed eyelids. When her eyes opened again, the figure was closer, their features more prominent.

It was a man, his shoulders thick and stocky. They had short, trimmed hair and neat yet unruly stubble dusting their jaw. They looked tired, jacket tossed on Xena's bed, shoes taken off to sit neatly my the window sill from which they came in by.

"Who the fuck are you?" Xena asks, not letting her eyes leave the stranger.

"Ha! I'm surprised you don't remember me, we were from the same sub-universe."

"Excuse me?" Xena frowns, alarm bells ringing.

"I'm R73*b/T," the man smiles, "Robert."

Her face must go slack, because he laughs gruffly.

"I know, it's been a while." He smiles, leaning on the desk.

"Oh my god!" Xena drops her guard and brings Robert in for a massive bear hug (which he is awesome at btw). "It's been Millenia!"

"More." He squeezes her, ruffling her hair.

He was always a father figure to Xena, the two being close during their century of djinn. They had been placed on opposite ends of their respective local system and sent comet messages to each other. Robert had a more advanced civilisation, far superior to that of earth's and frequently told Xena about their new advancements and how proud of them he was. He also said he was proud of her. She tried her hardest to make sure that earth was well maintained. Her first assignment of life (the dinosaurs) had gone terribly wrong and required her elders to dispose of them in order to start again. That Millenia had been hard and Robert had been there for her the whole time.

Laughing to fend off tears, Xena pulls back and grabs Roberts shoulders, "What are you doing here?"

Robert grins, "my assignment is finished. My planet has peaked."

"Oh my goodness! That's amazing!" Xena lights up, excited for Robert.

The event of a world peaking is an important event in a djinn assignment. When the life on a planet reaches complete and utter destruction, be it from the death of a nearby star or the population killing itself off, the djinn's success is proven. In most cases, the life on the djinns planet makes it to the stars to start a new civilisation or bunkers down and waits for the destruction to pass. The choices the djinn made previously on the planet effects whether or not the planet peaks. There is no way to tell if a planet is to peak until the last century. However, when a planet peaks, the djinn is greatly prized and is either given another assignment or is asked to join the elders in the grand universe.

"But why here?" Xena asks, brow furrowing, "has my assignment been passed on?" She asks, dread planting itself in the base of her stomach.

Robert laughs and pats her head, "no, darl. I'm here because the elders gave me a choice to come here."

"What? Sunset when do elders let you choose?"

"Ha! I know. They allowed me to come stay with you until your planet peaked. Then I will go to the grand universe. They say I have a seat at one of the twelve."

"I'm so proud of you," Xena smiles, bumping Robert on the shoulder with her fist, her joy practically radiating off of her.

"What universe will you take from the twelve?" Xena asks, sitting on the bed to take her shoes off, clothes shifting from her dress wear to her usual sweater and now deep brown hair.

"I'm hoping to take this one. But if I can't get this one, I'll try grab Aayla's major sector."

"Hubba hubba~" Xena teases, jabbing Robert who likes the celestial being Aayla.

"Oh stop it."

"Oh BOBBIT!" Xena laughs, making a fake sexy voice.

Robert frowns, human form blushing, hating the nickname. Xena just laughs.

"Are you going to stay here?" She asks, stifling her giggles.

"If that's alright?"

"Yeah! Of course. Do you have a pod?" Xena asks.

"Can I not stay in this form?" Robert asks, gesturing down at himself.

"The culture here is really weird. Child bearing life can't be with Seeders without being shamed. And your form is a Seeder and mine is a Bearer." Xena explains.

"Ah, okay." Robert nods knowingly. "I have a pod, it's a bit old though." He pulls out a brand new, state-of-the-art transport pod with glimmering layers of time and space interwoven into a human looking collection of atoms.

Xena rolls her eyes so far back that she swears she could see the back of her skull. "I think you'll manage."

Robert laughs, his cocky ass placing the pod on Xena's desk and reverting back to his original form, visible to the human eye as blue/purple glowing sections of air. Almost indescrible.

"You look good. Healthy." Xena comments, smiling at the glowing air.

"Perv."

"Oi!"

"Haha, thanks. I'm going in. Will you let know when this planets cycle begins again?" Robert asks Xena.

"Yeah, I'll wake you up."

"Thanks." He mumbles and disappears into the pod.

Sighing, Xena flops onto her unmade bed.

"Fuck."


	7. 7: Kaidence - Dont talk to me like that

Angst! Tension! All the good things in life.

"Go die," she grits at Eric who stands above her, frowning.

"It's not my fault that you are...weak." He says, raising his staff again.

"I'm not weak, you're just fighting dirty!" She protests, jumping up and attacking.

It was late evening and they were in the woods, the first day of training. And it was going splendidly.

Raising an eyebrow, he swings the staff down low, her jumping just in time to avoid the blow. "Better, but still sloppy."

"Sloppy? I've been running for 500 years," she hisses, on the offence now and her snake staff swinging wildly but calculated, and she relishes the fact that he looks alarmed. "I've killed demons, escaped spirits, travelled over all kinds of terrain, survived on almost every continent and you say that I'm doing SLOPPY?!" She barks, ending her tirade with a sharp jab to the chest that sends him flying back onto his feet.

"I don't care who the hell you are, what the hell you do, or why the hell you picked me to 'train'." She hisses, stepping forward. "Do NOT belittle me as if I am a newborn. I could AND STILL CAN do perfectly well by myself."

He doesn't respond, choosing to look up at her. "Are you done?" He finally says with a maddening calm.

Gritting her teeth to prevent her from swearing, she lends him and hand which he takes to stand up, dusting himself off. "Good, let's work on your telekinesis then."

She looks at him. "Are you mad?"

"Almost, why?" He snarks, placing his staff back in his bag.

"The demons can sense my magic, they'll come for me!" She replies.

"And? As I recall you are so strong and brave and amazing." He replies, arms crossed. "So what are a few demons for you?"

She grits her teeth.

"Now, when you're done with your antics, move that stone." He says, gesturing to a small flat stone nearby, no larger than her foot.

Concentrating, she tries but fails, shaking her head. "I've lost it, I can't do it."

"You can," he replies, frowning. "Just try, focus!"

Looking again, she tries with all her might but lets out a breath after half a minute.

"Come on!" He barks.

She turns to glare at him. "Ex-cuse me?" This was her warning tone, and he paid no heed to it. "Did you just shout at me?"

"Yes, seeing as nothing else seems to be working," he replies.

"I haven't used magic in ages! Centuries even! It's not my fault that it's randomly died out!" She complains, glaring at him. "Arrogant prick."

"Magic doesn't randomly 'die out'," he says mockingly, accentuating the two words with finger quotations. "Just focus on a strong emotion."

Quieting, she focuses and to his surprise, the rock hurls itself over into the woods.

"What are you thinking about?" He asks, as she practices with a variety of stones. "It must be a strong emotion."

"On how annoying your voice sounds," she replies flatly, sending a jagged stone in his direction.

About an hour later, they head over to the Grill for dinner; a small hole-in-the-wall restaurant that doubled as a diner for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Eric frowned when he saw it, so Kai had to drag him in.

"How can you spot the demons so easily?" She asks once they sit and place their orders in. "I mean, being a Shadowhunter and all."

"You tell me. You can read auras, no?" He asks, taking a sip of water.

"Well, yes." She replies, frowning while playing with the edge of the menu card. "But, do they have a specific aura? One that can be easily identified?"

"Practice reading auras then." He says, leaning back in his chair.

"What, here?" She asks, looking around.

"No, in Macedonia," he replies.

"Fine, who do you want me to find the aura of?" She asks.

"That girl over there." He says, nodding his head to a young woman, maybe in university, who sat alone at a table, clearly waiting for someone.

Kai nods, looking over at the woman and letting her vision glaze over for a second before she is barraged with information.

The woman's aura was orange, bright and lively, and it flickered around her like a flame, popping and crackling. "She's young, probably a university student. She's got a nice aura, bright and lovely, she's like a fire, warm and kind. She's nervous." Kaidence starts, continuing to focus. Threads of red and pink entwine in her aura, mixing and making the flames rise higher. "She's got a crush on someone," she continues, grinning. As she continues watching, a thread of dark black swirls around the girl's aura, making the flames sputter. "But she's nervous. She's scared." Kai says, finally coming out of her seeing state.

Eric nods, looking at her thoughtfully. "Not bad."

"Not bad? Probably better than you could do!" Kaidence protests, quieting as their food arrives and digging in.

"Isn't that Xena?" He asks, completely ignoring her and tipping his chin in the girl's direction.

Kaidence looks over, blanching as she sees Xena comes out of the toilets, standing up with the girl. "Crap, I didn't know she'd be here!" She mutters, frowning.

Looking over, she sees Eric tense as she walks up to her, his fists clenching.

"You know what, we're leaving right now." He says, getting up and placing some money on the table.

"Wait, why? What happened?" She asks, completely confused as he drags her out.

"Kai! Wait up, hello!" Xena says cheerfully, stopping them on the way out.

"Hey!" Kaidence replies, tensing as Xena narrows her eyes. "What's up?"

"That's funny, I swear I saw..." she shakes her head. "Never mind."

Kai turns, confused as to why she couldn't see Eric, but he shakes his head. "Glamour, remember?"

Turning back to Xena, she smiles strainfully. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm on a date with Phoebe, she's amazing," Xena whispers to her, eyeing the woman who is on her phone a few metres away.

"That's great," Kaidence replies honestly. She frowns as she sees Eric gesturing to leave the restaurant. "Xena, I hate to interrupt your date but I need to talk to you."

Xena, seeing the seriousness on her face, nods. "Gimme two secs." She heads over to Phoebe and starts talking to her.

"What are you doing?!" Eric hisses once she's out of earshot, glaring at her and dragging her outside into the cold night. "I'm not revealing myself to her!"

"I don't care, I'm telling her what's going on. She has a right to know." Kai replies, frowning at the deserted streets.

"No, she actually doesn't." He snaps, frowning. "She's a powerful demon! Do you WANT me to die?"

"I have no loyalty to you, Bloodstone." Kaidence replies, squaring him up. "You are welcome to leave RIGHT NOW if you want."

"As tempting as that offer is, my job is to make sure you don't die." He snaps, arms crossed.

"So you're basically telling me that I'm facing Satan himself, RUNNING from him, killing demons left and right...and you wouldn't want me to even WARN Xena about this?!" She demands, frowning.

He sighs through his nose. "You are the most frustrating person I have ever met."

"Good," Kaidence replies. "I pride myself on that fact."

"You can tell her everything about you." He says, putting the glamour on again as Xena leaves the restaurant with Phoebe, hugging her goodbye. "But don't you dare say a word about me. Deal?"

"Fine," Kai hisses as Xena approaches her.

"Hey, you wanted to talk?" She asks.

"Can we head home first?" Kai asks, a wave of tiredness hitting her.

"Of course," Xena replies, hopping on Kai's motorbike.

They reach home, Kaidence sighing in relief as she enters the door, shutting it behind Xena and an invisible Eric.

Sitting on the couch, Kai hugs a pillow to her chest.

"What's going on?" Xena asks, sitting on the edge of the couch timidly.

Taking a breath, Kaidence spills everything, as much as she can without mentioning Eric.

"I can basically move stuff with my mind as well as read auras." She says sheepishly, scratching the back of her neck.

"Well, I mean...that's a lot to...grasp at once." Xena says while looking at the floor, her eyebrows furrowing.

"I-I know, but I just wanted to tell you...because I wanted you to be safe," Kai stammers, eyes widening as Xena looks up, eyes ablaze.

The room is silent for a second.

"You mean you KNEW about all this?" Xena hisses, frowning.

Kai frowns. "I only knew about my powers," she replies, defensively. "I swear, I didn't know anything about this Satan situation!"

"You don't think you could have told any of this to me BEFORE you moved in with me?!" Xena asks, deadly quiet while glaring at her.

"I didn't know how to broach the topic," Kai replies, gaping as Xena's eyes narrowed into slits.

Somewhere in Xena's mind, she knew that even she had hidden a lot, was STILL hiding a lot, but she didn't think of any of that now. She had put her trust in this human, this being...and she had lied her?! A Jann Djinn? One of the first beings on Earth, BORN to keep the humans safe, to save them and this one had LIED and HIDDEN from her?

"Get out."

Kai's expression falters. "I'm sorry?"

"I said, get out. I need to think." Xena replies, pointing a finger at the door.

"Xena, I'm sorr-"

"GET OUT!" Xena roars, her hair and eye colour spiralling between many different colours now. "Get the hell out of my house, you LIAR! Get the HELL OUT!" She shouts, jumping up and stalking over to where Kai is now standing, menacingly. Blinded with rage, fear and confusion she would have swung a punch at her head, but steps to the side as Kai's hand comes up in defence.

"How dare you-" She is silenced as a knife flies past her, narrowly skimming past her neck. She looks at it for a second before looking back at Kaidence. "Did you just...?"

Kaidence is immediately in her room, shoving as many things into a backpack as possible while shaking. All her essentials in a bag, she heads out her room, coming face to face with Xena again.

"Xena, please-" she places her arm on Xena's, trying to find her aura, trying to soothe it somehow. She only find a red mass surrounding her friend, twisting shadows across her face.

She gasps as Xena's other arm shoots out, latching onto hers.

"Don't you DARE touch me, you filth. Don't you DARE show your face here until I call you," Xena hisses, in a blindingly, furious rage. "Or I will SKIN you MYSELF."

Kaidence looks at her sadly before stalking past her, grabbing her bike keys and sprinting out of the apartment, heading down to her bike.

She presses down on the pedal, exiting the parking lot with a screech of tires.

Ten minutes later, she realised that she had no idea where to go, her family and other friends a plane trip away.

Parking on the side of the road, she kicks herself mentally for her luck.

"Stay a few days with me, at the Institute. Christina's been itching to meet you anyways." Eric says, somehow right next to her.

"How are you..here?" She asks, rubbing her eyes furiously as she finds tears there. Finding no reply, she sighs through her nose, still rubbing her eyes; willing the tears away. "Only until Xena cools down...hopefully she does soon." She says, shivering.

"Of course." He replies.

"Well then," she says, handing him the keys to her bike. "Lead the way."

They drive in silence for twenty minutes, the sky still pitch black, the time about 11 in the night at this point.

They finally reach the edge of a bridge . "We can't go any further, it's a river." Kaidence shouts over the motor. He ignores her, heading straight towards the rocky incline.

"Gods, I'm actually on a suicide mission," she sighs as they head into the water.

The last thing she hears is his chuckling and a rush of bubbles meeting her face as everything goes dark.

"Is she awake yet?" "No." "Now?" "No, Izzy!" "What about now?" "I SWEAR TO GOD, Christina-"

Kaidence wakes up in a bed, a warm and soft one.

"Hello there!" A girl greets her, about her age with pitch black hair up to her mid back and black tattoos inked across her arms and neck.

"Um...hi," Kai rasps, trying to sit up, her eyes feeling like they'd been glued shut. "Where am I?"

"The Institute, of course!" The girl replies, shaking her head annoyed. "Eric really didn't tell you anything, did he. How stupid of him. Of course he drags you off to some place you've never been before. This is the Institute, where all the Shadowhunters stay in our region. You'll be safe here, we were scared for a bit because you've been knocked out for the past three hours. I can't believe he didn't tell you anything! Well, that's expected, he never tells us anything either, I didn't even know you'd be coming here! I don't even have a room prepared for you!" She ends, sighing.

Kaidence stares dumbly at her, not sure how to reply.

"Sorry about that," a guy says, standing at the foot of the bed. "I'm Chris, this is my sister Christina."

"Kaidence." She replies, shaking both their hands.

"We know, we've heard all about you!" Christina grins, drumming her fingers along the edge of the bed.

"Of course you two are here." Eric says, entering the room.

"Eric, you didn't tell her ANYTHING, did you." Christina accuses, frowning at him.

"They're the welcoming party here...well Chris's here to make sure I didn't invite in a demon." Eric tells Kai, ignoring Christina. "Still trying to figure out whether she is or isn't one, by the way."

"Pick a hell and rot there, Bloodstone." Christina hisses, frowning at him. Kaidence decides that she likes Christina, trying to hide a grin.

"Okay, everybody get out, let her sleep!" Another woman says, entering the room with bright red hair.

"Really, Elara? How boring." Christina sighs, but she stands up. "It is late." She admits. "I'll see you in the morning?" Not waiting for a reply, she pecks Kai on the cheek, bouncing out the room, Chris following with a murmured "goodnight" of his own.

"You too, Eric." Elara says, grinning when he groans.

"But I just got here!"

"I don't care," she replies, Kai warming up to her personality immediately. "Get out."

He unwillingly heads out the room. "Goodnight!" He yells over his shoulder.

"Goodnight," Kai replies.

Elara smiles at her. "Sorry about ALL of that. I'm Elara, you'll see Matt in the morning. We'll have an official meeting then, and you'll be able to meet all of us properly. If you need anything, just yell out." She says, smiling tiredly at Kai. "Goodnight," she whispers, closing the lights.

"Goodnight," Kai replies, the darkness enveloping her. However, only thoughts of Xena's furious face and how she almost killed her run through her head. Sleep does not come easily that night.


	8. 8: Xena - Deserve you Not

Major backstory!

In case it's hard to understand, the pic is a diagram of what I'm explaining.

Slamming the door to her room so violently that the hinges practically come off, Xena seethes with red hot rage, her body going completely still as her essence leaves it.

Fury coursing through her atoms, she awakens Robert.

His body is tucked into a corner of Xena's room and when Robert wakes up, he heads to it immediately.

"Don't. I need your help." Xena barks, trying to sound calm.

Robert stops, "what happened? You're pulsing."

Pulsating as djinn was a difficult action to sate. Many a time throughout djinn history, when the guardian of a world experienced rage or a form of intense emotion, the world paid dearly for it. Such cases in Xena's world were mass killings, births of murderers and the odd building collapse. All circumstances ended in death, however these were only cases of minor tremors in Xena.

The first account of Xena's rage upon the world was when she was sent to Earth and was assigned to protect it. She was separated and isolated and pulsed so hard that the world greyed over and was flooded completely, the even being recorded in 'religious' manuscripts.

"These stupid humans! Have they no honour? Respect? There dare lie to me and then stand their ground despite their playing with death!" Xena convulses, her words reverting into djinn dialects. She snaps to Robert, "I need you to help me find a bad place to destroy."

"What?" Robert looks taken aback, "you can't just go and destroy something." He frowns.

"Well I can't leave the planet and if I poke another hole in the atmosphere then I will kill of the life." She growls, feeling her form shift uncontrollably.

Robert thinks for a moment, understandingly. "Let's make some natural disasters." He speaks slowly.

Good. Xena's mind puffs at the thought of destruction.

Leaving the apartment block, Robert zones out to collect information about the world's history, helping him to make an informed decision. After a couple of moments traveling (around the surface of the earth a couple of times), Robert resurfaces and speaks quietly, not wanting to tip off the raging celestial being, "why don't we start a storm, they're always fun." He smiles, trying to appeal to her interest.

Xena only nods, heading to the nearest coastline.

"Why don't we try mid ocean?"

Frowning, Xena lets herself be led to the pacific. Here she would let her rage run free. Robert pats her gently, telling her to take it easy and to try find mercy before leaving the premises. No one would want to be apart of the next two hours.

Taking the ocean into her metaphysical hands, Xena spins a web of anger and suppressed frustration into a swirling mass of cloud, lightening and red hot power. She loses herself in its creation, she giving birth to the death of many undeserving souls.

The water beneath her hears her anger and swirls around her in joyous agreement, wanting to join in the destruction. Feeling as if she was making too much destruction, she calms the ocean, telling it not to send tsunamis and cause death but to be more subtle in its divine punishment. Allowing it give up no yields of fish and other human used resources. Bubbling with delight, the ocean listens and leaves to wreak havoc.

Finishing up her masterpiece, Xena puts the finishing touches into her cyclone/storm, setting it off in the direction she deemed acceptable with a flourish of her power and prowess. Trivial humans, eating their lives away.

Rising to meet Robert, she huffs at him, tiredness taking its hold.

Ruffling her head, he leads her back home, gently easing her back into her physical body.

Regaining consciousness within her 'real' form, Xena falls back into the sheets, feeling cold and drained.

Robert, practically reading her mind, steps into his own body and joins her in the bed. Pulling the sheets over them, he takes Xena into his arms, letting her shake with unused rage and betrayal.

And like this, they sleep.

"Your assignments will all be different. Depending on your success with what we have done, you will be given a race with more or less probability of peaking. At the moment, Robert, you will have the most advanced civilisation. Well done. As for you, Xena, you need to step up your game otherwise your planet might not even reach the stars."

"There are many sections included in the grand universe. Elders, in fact, are not apart of any universe. They are deities that rule over it. That means that they do not belong to any universe and therefore drift in the abyss that is them. Inside each of the twelve grand universes are many Major sections. Within these Major Sections are even more Minor sections. And within the Minor sections there are: once again, many local universes. And within these Local universes are many constellations which hold millions if not billions of local systems inside each constellation. And within each local system, there are an equal amount of solar systems. All of you will receive a planet within a solar system in a different section of each grand universe."

"All of you will be very far away from each other, but there are forms of communication that you can use to help each other if needed, this is one way of doing this-"

"Pulsing is a very common occurrence within djinn. Do not fear if you experience this, for it is perfectly normal. However, how you choose to be rid of pulses is up to you. Each of you will have a different pulse. Varying from rage to lust. Those with small and easily sated pulses such as list will find ease. However, anger is something that can prove much more difficult."

"There are several ways to help with pulsing: anger is one of the worst pulses to be plagued with. Those of you with anger will find it very hard not to destroy everything you see. In cases of pulsation, try to ground yourself. Do not topple civilisations. For particularly violent pulses, a safer option for you is to engage in natural disasters. Do not kill, but cause suffering."

"Greed is equally as dangerous-"

"Lust is a very common pulse-"

"Boredom is very uncommon, but do not mistake its power-"

"Do not."

"No."

"Never do-"

"Try not to,"

"Sleep is what all of you must know of but should never hope to achieve. When you go to your planets, you are no longer djinn in training. You are cosmic beings of immense power. You will no longer be treated as less. This also means that penalties will also apply. Any misstep and you will be punished. Being put to sleep is hard to achieve, most of you will probably face the destruction of your worlds or be taken from your worlds before peaking as forms of punishment. Failing your planet or abandoning it will give you less chance of forgiveness. Act in this way and you will be shown no mercy."

"Sleep is very serious. I cannot understand how you take it so lightly. Do you want to be punished by the divine twelve? Do you want the very essence of your being to be fragmented and sent into the abyss to suffer for the rest of your consciousness?"

"It amazes me that you are not already with the elders now."

"Don't worry. We only have to deal with her for the next couple of centuries. Then she'll be sent to the elders for sleep"

"If you are caught trying to shatter someone's atoms again, not matter the circumstances, you will gain initiation and will be put to sleep. You tread on very small stars."

"As djinn, you are celestial and ever mighty. In this sense, your race will be inferior to you. You must never have connections with them. They are to sustain themselves without the guidance of you in their personal lives."

"You must never speak."

"Never engage."

"Never show favour to an individual."

"Never let the balance fall."

"Never. Give. Yourself. To. Them. Love will be your end."

"I'm surprised you passed. Your scores were astoundingly low. The elders nearly put you to sleep."

"Each if you have done well. Here are your assignments. Well done to all of you. We hope to see you in the grand universe one day."

She was never going back.


	9. 9: Kaidence - Let There be Light

R here, hope you enjoy the chapter

Kaidence wakes up to see a person staring at her. Very closely.

Her fist immediately shoots out to cop her in the nose.

"Ow!" The girl replies, staring at her. "What the hell, Kai?"

"Hayley?" Kaidence says, startled as she receives a giant hug. "What are you doing here? Why are you here?"

"I've always been here," Hayley replies, smiling. "I'm a Hunter too."

Kaidence shakes her head, heading to the bathroom.

Looking in the mirror, she winces at her reflection. Her brown eyes, usually dark were now dilated and bright. Her skin looked dirty, probably from driving into a river, and her hair was limp and disgusting.

"Can I shower here?" She asks, turning to see Hayley still sitting on the bed.

"Sure," she replies. "We got some of Christina's clothes, she seemed to be your size."

Kaidence nods, showering and washing up, sighing in relief as the hot water hit her face and she scrubbed at her hair, using about half the shampoo bottle just to remove the dirt and mud. Finally emerging in soft and comfortable clothing, a black shirt and black leggings, she heads out, smiling at Hayley.

"The others have been waiting for a while now," Hayley says, grinning. "Let's go."

"For me? Why are they waiting for me?" Kaidence asks, frowning as they both head out.

Hayley was a friend from a long time ago. They had grown up together, enjoying life. Discovering their powers together, giggling about inside jokes together, talking late into the night with each other. Hayley being three years older than Kai had been a guardian sister for her, a safe haven. It was all happy and lucky and joyful. Until Hayley had had to move away with her parents for a "new change", a "fresh start."

Or that's what her mom had told Kaidence when she was only 13 years old. "But why?" Kaidence had screamed at her mom, her own mom. "Why does she have to go?" "It's for the best." Her mom had said. But it wasn't fair, it wasn't. Only Hayley had known about her powers, only she had been there for Kaidence when she had accidentally killed someone, sobbing late into the night in her arms. Her power was based on emotion, that was the first thing that Hayley had taught her.

This all lead to her parents. Their death was nothing, simple, an accident, a freak accident. The gas had accidently been left on in their house, and when Kaidence had gone out one night, to go to the movies for the first time without Hayley, something must have caught fire and the house just blew apart. With her parents in it.

This was all what Kaidence was told. What she didn't tell anyone was how she had been messing around with her magic, trying to get a small ball of flame to roll along her knuckles. How it was just a small game, a harmless one. How she still had the flame interlacing her fingers when she was heading out the front door. How she turned once to wave and tell them that she'd be gone for an hour or so. How they'd waved, smiling and glad. How their auras were bright and happy, how happy they were. How her mum had laughed and told her to be careful and hide her magic. How she'd smiled and lost control of the magic when she lifted her hand to wave once again. How the house splintered from the impact of the flame as it met the gas. How she herself was thrown back, her hand in front of her face, providing a shield between her and the heat that would have surely killed her. How her mouth tasted of ash as she stood up, legs shaking. How the air smelled of smoke and burning. How she spun when she heard the police and ambulance on the way. How she couldn't find their auras. How she couldn't find the auras she had grown up with. How she couldn't, how she ran that night, heading far, far away from that place. How she collapsed at someone's doorstep, how the warm arms took her in.

How she found Xena.

"And we think it would be good if you spent some time here." Hayley says, smiling at her.

Kaidence realised at that point that she had spaced out during the whole explanation.

They entered a room full of people sitting around a large table.

"What's going on?" Kaidence asks when everyone swivels to stare at her.

"I don't believe it." Christina says in awe. "And she doesn't know at all?"

"Nope," Eric replies, grinning.

"What don't I know about?" Kaidence asks, scratching her arm awkwardly.

"Absolutely nothing." Another male says cheerfully, grabbing her shoulders and gently steering her to the table where she takes a seat. "It's 9 in the morning, can we tone down the aggressiveness on the poor girl?"

Kaidence turns to inspect the male who stands behind her. He was maybe a few years older than her, with brown hair and cheerful blue eyes that were currently glaring round at everyone.

"I agree," Hayley says, sliding into the seat next to her, holding a plate with a stack of pancakes. "Eat." She says, shoving the plate in front of Kai.

She obeys, picking up a fork and digging into the pancakes, placing a forkful in her mouth. It was heaven in a bite.

"Good?" The male who she had just met asks, slinging a dishcloth over his shoulder.

"Amazing." Kai confirms, taking another bite.

"Well, we may as well introduce ourselves," he then says, sitting in the chair next to her.

"My name is Eric and I enjoy killing people. My hobbies include sharpening my blades and knitting socks for elderly women." Eric snarks, leaning back in his chair.

"When you're done being an asshole, Bloodstone." The guy next to her snaps. "I highly doubt she'd want to learn more about YOU. What is there to know, anyways? He loves looking in mirrors all day and lounges around, letting us do all the work."

Kaidence has to shove another forkful of pancake in her mouth to stop herself from laughing.

"I'm Christopher, this is Christina." The male from the previous day says, gesturing to himself and the girl sitting next to him. "We're twins." "Our parents thought it would be hilarious if we had similar names." Christina says, rolling her eyes.

"I'm Elara, and this is Matt." The red haired girl from the previous night states, grinning at a dark brown haired male.

"They're in LOVEEE." Eric says, making kissy faces.

"Completely and unconditionally," Christina adds, adding a moony eyed face with twisted hands.

The male next to her rolls her eyes, although he smiles. "I'm Nikolai."

"We've all been waiting for you to wake up," Christina says, bouncing in her chair excitedly.

"Oh, why?" Kaidence asks, frowning. Genuinely confused, she looked around as everyone laughed.

"You're the last of your kind, sweetie." Elara says, patting Kaidence on her hand. "So you have amazing powers and-"

"And everyone wants to see you kick some ass." Hayley rolls her eyes, smiling as she leans back in her chair.

"I'm sure you know all about how the Devil's child is after you." Christina says sympathetically. "It must be awful."

"Wait, what?" Kaidence laughs nervously. "No, Eric said Satan. He never told me anything else."

"Eric," Elara says disapprovingly, shaking her head at a blissfully uncaring Eric.

"What? Satan, Satan's child, his maid; they're all the same in the end, aren't they?" Eric says, shrugging.

"Well, it's a bit more than that," Nikolai says, frowning at Kaidence's empty plate as he picks it up to place it in the sink.

"Okay, so basically-" Christina starts.

"No, let me explain-" Chris interrupts.

"Hold on, I literally brought her here-" Eric says, sitting up and actually looking interested in the conversation now.

"Everyone, out!" Nikolai snaps, clapping his hands when he sees Kai's expression of bewilderment. "I'LL explain it all to her."

They all file out obediently, muttering under their breath about how they could have explained it better.

"Hayley, I'll bring her to you afterwards." He tells Hayley, who nods and follows the others out of the room, closing the door softly behind her.

"Now, how do you feel?" Nikolai asks her, leading her to a couch where they both sit. Clapping, two mismatching cups and a kettle fly into the room, landing on the coffee table with a clunk. Frowning, he watches as a pitcher of milk and a tumbler of sugar also file in slowly, landing on the table finally. Smiling, he claps again, a plate of strawberry frosted biscuits landing on the table. "Biscuit? I made them myself!"

Kaidence looks at him with surprise and relief. "Are you like me as well?"

"No," he replies kindly, taking a biscuit and passing it to her. "I'm a mage, more into magic, while you control things with your mind."

She nods, accepting the biscuit as well as a large, chipped mug of coffee. "Could you please tell me everything?"

"Tell you?" He laughs. "I can go one step better."

She frowns, and all of a sudden is spinning and falling.

Down, down, down in a brightly lit vortex until there is nothing.

She finally lands in a dim room, a vast contrast to the previous room and the tunnel she had just fallen through.

"A long time ago, Shadowhunters, all kinds of magical beings and humans coexisted in harmony." She hears Nikolai say; as if on a speaker all around her. "They depended on each other, there was peace and the removal of any one group would seal the fate of the other two forces."

She walks to the one large window in the room, looking out at the life and happiness beyond.

"But, of course, there would be a person that did not approve. Satan's son himself."

She watches as a male strides into the room, sneering at the light outside and grabbing the curtain, yanking it shut, blocking all light from entering.

"His father had warned him to stay on the low, but he believed that the circles should remain separate. That mixing and matching people was a sin."

She is thrown into a dark, dingy dungeon where she watches as the same male whips another younger boy, a mage, who screams in pain. "Mercy...please, mercy!"

She tries to run ahead, throwing herself in front of the boy, raising her arms up in defence. "Please, stop!" She screams, but the whip tears through her, as if she was a ghost, and she is thrown into a time flux again, this time emerging on a dark clifftop

"He brought all the elements together to destroy them all, to build a new world, but overestimated." She watched as the sky splintered with blinding light.

"The circles were forced to separate." She was now in a study, similar to the room she had started in. A group of people stood in the centre of the room in a circle, palms facing outwards towards each other, a glowing light filling the room. "To make it easier, the Mages like me made sure that the Humans forgot of the existence of magic, of our kinds. But the legend always lived on, in the form of fairy tales, of fantasy worlds. Harry Potter, Alice in Wonderland, The Hobbit, Twilight and more, they are all remnants of worlds long past and forgotten."

She is brought back to the room she started in. "The male was furious. All his plans, foiled. In a fit of rage, he wreaked havoc upon the magic holders, the non humans." She watches as everything outside freezes and disappears, as if being wafted away by the wind. "They were not dead; merely not alive or in a place where they could be accessed."

She is now brought to a field where a small band of people run towards what looked like a portal. "People like me were killed, I am the last of my kind. The others that you all saw today managed to make it through." She watches as small children run through the portal to the human world, safe, while a couple hand a toddler to a younger looking version of Nikolai. The mother places one final kiss on the child's forehead before turning back to the male who stalked through the long grass. Nikolai stepped through the portal and was gone, but Kai watched onwards. The male bares his teeth, sending out two daggers that hit the couple with a sickening 'thunk' before they both fall.

"He discovered that day that people had escaped, Shadowhunters and one mage, that being me. And one, last magic holder. She was young, she didn't know much. But she was there. And she was one of the strongest there could ever be." Kaidence is thrown back into the study, where the male paces. "He still dedicates his time and life to finding the girl, the one that got away. Years passed, the girl grew up in a safe house, until it was burnt; they had been betrayed."

Kaidence watched as Nikolai steps in front of the burning building and in front of another, younger version of herself, pressing a palm to her forehead, watched as her eyes glowed a bright gold. "I planted false memories of false parents, a false story, false memories of leaving her friends, I gave her a place to go, a random address." Finally, Kaidence sees herself stumbling up to Xena's apartment door, collapsing there. "Until she found a safe haven." Kaidence is then thrown through a torrent of memories, including her being attacked by the demon, her graduating with Xena, smiling as she looked at the apartment they would share, all up until the moment where she drove into the river with Eric.

She is finally thrown into the study, where Nikolai sits next to her, legs crossed and eating a biscuit.

"That was me." Kai says, placing a palm on her forehead. "He's looking for me."

"Correct." Nikolai replies cheerfully, taking a sip of coffee.

"What is his name? How can I find him?" Kaidence asks, teeth gritting. How DARE this man ruin so many lives because of his own selfish ideas!

"Did you not hear me, he is Satan's SON." Nikolai tuts. "We do not know his name. We are safe here, a portal to a pocket of space that cannot be reached by evil hearts."

Kaidence nods slowly, letting all the information sink into her head. "Well, what can I do now? What should I do?"

"You can do whatever you wish, dear." Nikolai says, widening his arms. His eyes soften for a second when he looks at Kaidence's serious, brown ones. "You are home."

My god that was long. Hope you enjoyed


	10. 10: Xena - Origins

Most of what Xena did whilst she was in control of earth was good. It wasn't great, but it was good. If she played her cards right, her planet would peak and she could ditch.

Still young and naive, she followed the rules unquestionably, listening to everything her superiors told her. A miserable life, really.

Watching the humans around her while she watched in silence was so deafeningly lonely. So emptily crowded. Blank faces and no colour.

She watched as they solved problems so difficult and foreign to them. She watched them evolve to become accustomed to each other. They faced racism. Sexism. Anything you can poke a stick at.

The first Millenia and a half of human history were the longest years of Xena's existence. Uneventful yet so rich with information.

It took at least a century for Xena to finally decide to break her guidelines. She was going to get herself a physical body.

It was (in human terms) 1500ad when she made herself a body that suited her. Lovely figure and beautiful in every way she saw fit.

She was a man for many centuries, letting herself be privileged in her ways of life, enjoying good food and other worldly pleasures.

Thinking back on herself during those times were sickening, but so rewarding. She slept around and enjoyed the way that others felt with her. She inhaled unholy amounts of chemicals and liquor. She was flippant with her money and spent it on whims.

Finally being able to talk to something alive, Xena felt at ease, having found the relief she had been craving.

When the 1960s hit, Xena decided to shift from a man to a woman, immediately liking the female body more than the males (much softer and more delicate - yet so fierce!).

Like this, she established herself. She bought a home (multiple actually) and decked them out with beautiful furniture and other knick-knacks. It felt nice to be able to give something to herself.

Being more stable, Xena sought a partner. In times of growing acceptance (although not completely), Xena found many people that she found suitable. None of them lasted and she was left with a sore heart. It was only normal that she give up on love.

It was late 1990s when she moved into inner city New York, buying a spacious apartment and decking it out with plant and other 'hipster' pieces. It was beautiful, three rooms, two bathrooms (fucken expensive) and a spacious living room all to herself.

Here, she found love.

Like most Hollywood movies, it was raining when her buzzer rang. It was late and the city was slumbering.

Tearing herself away from her bed, Xena plodded down the stairs to the main entrance.

And there she stood. Small, wet and shaking. Kaidence.

Xena had never dealt with children. What was she supposed to do? Kai's eyes were so wide, so trusting. How could she turn away something so vulnerable?

She wasn't sure what decision went through her mind or what she was thinking when she did, but she tore off her dressing gown and threw it over the little girl, smothering her in warmth in an effort to comfort her.

Kaidence, upon receiving kindness, burst into tears, latching onto Xena, who bundled her up and carried her back to her apartment. Kai's soft sobs ringing like painful notes in Xena's ears, making Xena immediately vow to never let any harm come the girl that was wrapping cool arms around her neck.

Don't be stupid! Take her to a home! You can't handle this! Is what her mind screamed as she unlocked the door and stepped inside the warm apartment.

Kaidence has completely lost consciousness by now, her body still trembling. Summoning clothes of the appropriate size, Xena dried and changed Kai, making sure she was comfortable. She could be no older than 7. She would need to go to school. She would need Xena and would rely heavily on her. Could she handle that?

Letting the thought rest, Xena tucked Kai into her guest bed, making a note to decorate the room if she was to keep the child. Perhaps being maternal would soften her rage.

And when the next morning came and the little girl stepped out of her room, looking scared and hungry, Xena listened. She let the girl speak and cry and tell her everything. It was heartbreaking to watch such a little soul be corrupted by such filth. So she fed her and reassured her that no harm would come to her. Kaidence was part of the family now.

Kaidence (10)

Bright eyes stare in awe at the new room, sparkles of wonder darling back and forth not knowing what to look at.

For three years, Kaidence had loved in the guest bedroom of Xena's apartment, the room bland and boring. In a moment of frustration and self guilt, Xena splurged and re-did the entire room.

Kaidence wasn't overly girly, but she disliked male toys so Xena tried her hardest to find the most unisex toys possible. The room had a deep gray feature wall with a single bed in the corner; there was a white desk near the head of the bed and it was strewn in puzzles and books and other bits and pieces. There was a bookshelf that was stacked to the brim and a set of drawers next to the wardrobe that was covered in mementos. There were lots of puzzles and working out tasks that Kaidence enjoyed, the ten year old already showing strong signs in English strength.

Kaidence whips around to Xena, who stands smiling at her handiwork, throwing her arms around her neck and squealing 'thank you's and kicking her legs about.

When Kai detached herself from Xena's neck, Xena knelt down and pulled out a small felt box. Kai looked at Xena confusedly, looking at Xena and then to the box repeatedly.

Xena laughed at her confusion, explaining to the ten year old that she had taken a piece of her heart and preserved it for her to keep her safe. In actuality, she had taken a part of her being and manifested it into the form of a delicate silver pendant with an intricate clicking clock inside of it. It was circular and extremely thin.

Kaidence stared at Xena like she was crazy, telling her that she was silly and that she had just bought a locket. Xena insisted, but to no avail.

When she put the locket on, lacing it daintily around her neck, she opened the clock and frowned at Xena. Obviously confused, she asked why the clock time was wrong.

Xena laughed now, a genuine laugh of fondness. Taking the clock into her hand, she pointed at the time on the clock and told Kaidence about how the clock told you not the time but the time until she would see Xena again. 12 meant that you would see her, 9 meant she would see Xena in the hours and so on. And when Kaidence was with Xena, the watch would count the time until the would separate. Once again, Kaidence called bullshit.

Xena only laughed and left to make her lunch for her next day of school.

(Kaidence 15)

"Fuck off!" The door slams with such force that the wall shakes.

Xena scrunches her eyes and slams her fist into the stone bench in the kitchen, splitting her knuckles open and splattering blood everywhere, "don't use that language! Come back here!" She shouts half heartedly, knowing the girl is too stubborn for her own good.

And much to her expectations: loud, teenage, dark punk rock starts blasting from the room from where Kai is in her bed either crying or ripping something to shreds.

Xena tried to be at ease with Kai, letting her go out and be somewhat free (naturally there were curfews that Xena was always awake to monitor) with herself but the groups of people who she associated with became increasingly questionable. Xena wasn't a pry, but the curfews were being missed and grades dropped. Any parent would be concerned. Did she just say parent???

Upon questioning Kaidence, she was met with fierce denial, anger immediately converting into violence. Not knowing what else to do, Xena met her head on with force, holding her still as she yanked at her tightly closed eyes. She was high, and not the easy going weed high. She was doing ice.

It was safe to say that Kaidence didn't leave the house for a solid week until every single drop of drugs left her system. Throughout that time, there was no speaking and only death stares.

By the end of the week, Xena sat Kaidence down (who was still refusing to speak to her) and told her that she would be transferring schools. She would be moving from the suburbian school out of Xena's immediate line of fire to a local city private school with much better education and far more discipline. Xena explained how it was for her greater good and that it would be a nice change that would help her in becoming a strong young woman.

Of course, Kaidence called bullshit. She pushed a chair down in her rage, screaming at Xena about how much of a shit person she was.

They argued about where she would go and how the people around her influenced her for a good half an hour, the conversation escalating from tense language to full scale yelling.

It took Xena all of her willpower not to laugh, having seen fits like this in almost every household with teenagers. She knew that Kai would come around and would understand with time. But for the moment, she would be angry and listen to heavy music to drown away her sorrows.

(Kaidence 20)

"I'm going out!"

"Do you look like a thot?"

"No! Come on! Am I that crass?"

"Haha, have a drink for me!"

"Come with!"

"Nah, you be safe though."

"Will do, bye!"

"Bye!" Xena waves off Kaidence as she leaves the apartment to party with her friends.

It's funny how differently they're dressed. Kaidence, having just finished high school and started Uni, was in tight dresses and stiletto heels whilst Xena, a lawyer who had been in the workforce for far too long, was in track pants and a sweater eating ice cream on the couch.

Xena figured that her role as Mum would to not be a drag to Kai. She let her do her thing and just hung out at home. It was nice like this. They were practically besties.

Let's hope this calm stayed


	11. 11: Kaidence - Wolfie

Nikolai leads her next to the training room where she spots Hayley and Christina sparring.

"Wow." Is all she could comment as she saw Hayley flip Christina onto her back and stab at her with a staff only for Christina to flip back up and counter it with her own strike.

"They are competitive." Nikolai says, frowning and clapping his hands. "Ladies!"

The two turn to spot Kaidence, and grin. "About time!" Christina says cheerfully, heading towards Kai with Hayley in tow.

"I'm entrusting Kaidence to you," he says, smiling. "Okay?"

They nod, and he disappears in a waft of expensive cologne, smiling a little as the door closes behind him.

"What weapons do you have?" Christina asks her curiously, looking at the coiling bracelet around her arm.

"Oh, this is a whip/staff." Kaidence replies, flicking her arm out, releasing the inner mechanisms of the 'bracelet' that uncoiled it into a whip.

"And I have a seraph blade," she adds, pulling out the dagger from it's sheath on her hip.

Hayley nods. "Good to see that you're familiar with both of them. I work with the staff." She says, gesturing to a long and deadly looking cylinder, pointed at an end.

"And I don't have a weapon." Christina shrugs. "I work with my hands." She says, displaying ten callused and pale fingers, marked with scars all over.

Kaidence nods, following them and sitting down with them in the centre of the room. "So tell me, what are your powers? What can you do?" Christina asks excitedly, bouncing her foot a little.

"I can read auras, and I can control objects." Kaidence says.

"Cool! So you're like Wanda Maximoff then? From the Avengers?!" Christina gasps, her eyes full of wonder.

"A little. Not as powerful." Kaidence replies, laughing at Christina's face.

"Lies. She once threw a tree trunk over the street." Hayley says, smiling a little. "So humble."

"Shut up!" Kai laughs, shoving her a little.

"And reading auras? How does that work?" Christina asks, leaning back.

"Well, I kind of just look at a person and then let my eyes relax." Kaidence explains. "Then I see their aura. It's usually a solid colour depending on their mood, but it can change."

"Wow," Christina says, eyebrows sky high. "Could you read mine now?"

"Sure," Kai says, letting her eyes gloss over a little as she looks at Christina.

The door slams open with a bang.

"Hurry up, losers, we're going demon hunting." Chris says, grinning.

"First of all, that's a Mean Girls quote, and second, it's 'Get in, losers, we're going shopping'." Christina scowls. "Kai was just about to read my aura!"

"First of all, I don't care. Second of all, can you imagine me doing something as belittling as shopping?" He says, shuddering. "And finally, Kai can read your aura in the car. Now hurry up."

Scowling intensified, Christina stands up. "Fine, fine, we'll get our kit on. Now shoo!" She says, to which he closes the door.

"We usually wear anything light and easy to move around in." Hayley says, shrugging.

"Oh, okay." Kaidence says, watching as they begin strapping on weapons.

"We don't use all of them, but it's good to be prepared for anything." Christina adds, throwing Kaidence another dagger.

She nods, suiting up. When they're done, they head out of the room, laughing and talking. It was strange, knowing that once she must have played with these people, danced and laughed with them Kai thought as they headed to the large study.

But as she entered the giant room as saw everyone grinning (or smiling a little in Eric's case) at her, she couldn't help but feel that maybe, she was truly home at last.

Sitting in the car which travelled smoothly, Kaidence woke up after a short nap and lifted the silver locket from her neck, the one that Xena had given her. She had looked at it many times, but to her despair and horror, the ticking had ceased entirely, the delicate hands of the clock spinning randomly and wildly. It seemed to Kai that she would be here longer than she had originally thought.

Swallowing a lump in her throat, she pushed the locket back down, looking out the window. "Where are we going?" She asked, looking at the landscape change from an urban setting to rural landscape, full of trees and grass; greenery.

"Cirrane. It's a demon hotspot a few hours from the Institute." Chris replies from the passenger seat.

"We go there often, there are always new demons," Christina says, shrugging. She was in a good mood after Kai had read her aura and given her a good report.

"Okay." Kai says, nodding but her foot tapped, showing the edge she was feeling.

"Nervous?" Eric asks, gesturing to her tapping leg. "We'll have your back, don't worry."

"Okay," she repeats, her foot still bouncing.

They reach the city around an hour later, parking the car a few kilometres away from the settlement. At first glance, it seemed like a loud and normal city, not unlike New York, albeit a smaller version.

"We'll go for drinks afterwards," Hayley says, smiling roguishly. "We usually do after a good kill."

Kai grins back as they head through the city. As she looked closer, however, she saw the difference from New York. People milled around the place, but as far as she could see, she could not see any humans. She could see all kinds of beings, werewolves, vampires, centaurs, satyrs, sprites, nymphs, gnomes, fairies, elves, but she could not see any malicious activity of any kind.

"Look for the kinds of people that stick out, or look too blended in." Eric says, appearing next to her. "We can find all kinds of demons here, Nightshades, Burnids, Epplies." He explains as they head through the streets, seemingly inspecting everything.

They continue, heading down various alleys. "Looks like we're specifically SEARCHING for trouble," Kaidence comments.

"I like the fact that you state that as an observation, and not as a concern." Nikolai replies as they turn down another dark alley.

They manage to nick a few lesser demons, not much work, although Hayley looked proud as Kaidence finished off three in a span of ten seconds.

"Aah, lovely. Here we are." He says, presenting his hands to...nothing.

"What?" Kaidence asks, peering around his tall figure.

"Barbas." Nikolai replies, although less warmly as he continues looking ahead. "A fear demon. Give it a few seconds."

Kai obeys, and squints once she sees a blurry patch of air shift and shimmer in front of her. She pales as she sees what the apparition is.

It was Xena, and she looked angry and disappointed. "How could you not tell me?!" Xena screams, coming up to her and shoving her.

"Xena, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She sobs, a hand on her seraph blade, although it shook.

"Sorry isn't enough! I could have died! You could have killed me!" Xena storms, grabbing her by the arms and shaking her.

In shock, she drops the blade. "I'm sorry, Xena, I'm sorry!" She begs, grabbing her friend in a hug. The body stiffens before relaxing.

"That's quite alright." Xena croons, stroking Kaidence's hair. "Now don't worry about anything, I'll carry you upstairs, okay? You're safe here." Deliriously, Kaidence remembered that that was what Xena had told her years back, when she had first seen here, shivering on her doorstep.

Something was not right.

"Xena?" The word came out laced with concern and something else. Fear.

"Yes, Kai?"

Eyes shuttering slightly now, she could feel the calm and peace that Xena was radiating. She was radiating love, and peace and she was her hope, the one thing that kept her going. Xena. She felt almost sleepy now, head lolling back. Almost immediately, she could feel a slight pressure on her neck, but she counted that to be her just going crazy.

However, when the pressure increased rapidly in the next few seconds until it was practically unbearable, Kai's eyes flew open to find Xena but not Xena latched onto her neck, teeth tearing at her flesh. "Kai? Kai!" She could hear Hayley now, Xena frowning and dropping her as she spins, hissing at someone behind her.

"Kai, just hold on for a second, just wait-" Someone was saying, running towards her, the footsteps echoing in her head like a torrent of bullets.

And that's the last thing she remembered before she blacked out.

She woke up in the back of the car, her neck throbbing.

Placing a hand there, she found four puncture marks, courtesy of Barbas.

"Kai, thank god, we thought...I'm so sorry, I should have had your back!" Christina shakes her head, grabbing her in a hug.

"What she needs is alcohol." Hayley says, pulling Kaidence up. "You're sluggish now, but after you move around for a bit, you'll be right as rain. Nikolai managed to drain you. We'll get you a blood drink," she says as they head out of the car, towards the town again.

They enter a large, ditzy looking nightclub, Hayley pulling her to an alcove, swinging a curtain shut behind her. They spot the group sitting there, grinning at them.

"So our Sleeping Beauty's awake?" Eric says casually, although his eyes flicker to the marks on her neck.

"Yeah, awake. No thanks to me." Christina says, slumping onto a seat next to her brother.

"Aw, it wasn't your fault. If anything, I should have listened to Nikolai," Kai says, looking apologetically at Nikolai who shrugs gracefully.

"It was a learning curve for us all." He replies, smiling a little. "Not your fault."

She nods, accepting a bright red drink from a waitress, who she sees to be a slender, green skinned nymph.

She swallows the drink in a gulp, frowning as she looks at the cup. "What-"

"It's blood." Chris comments, drinking a star-flecked concoction of his own.

"It's...not that bad." Kai replies surprised, draining the last few drops.

"Of course not. Now come onto the dance floor!" Hayley says, pulling her out into the mass of moving bodies, where they proceed to dance for the next half an hour.

To her surprise, Kai saw that she was not tired at all, maybe even getting more and more awake as she kept dancing.

"Are you new here? I haven't seen you around?" A voice says, to which she turns.

Tall, dark brown hair and eyes. Slender, with a lean physique. Her type? Maybe.

"Maybe. I just have one of those faces." Kai replies, shrugging coyly.

"Trust me, I'd remember your face." He says, smile fading as he spots Hayley.

"What are you doing near my friend, hybrid?" She spits out the word.

He flashes a grin. "I couldn't stay away."

"Well you better learn how to, or I'll shove my seraph up-" she is stopped by Kaidence who frowns at her. "Kai, can we talk somewhere separately? Quickly? Privately?" She asks, glaring surreptitiously at the male.

She was yanked away into another alcove, mercifully empty.

"We don't talk to the Children of the Night." Hayley hisses, arms crossed. "He's a hybrid. A werewolf com vampire. Not trustworthy!"

Seeing the look on Kaidence's face, she sighs. "Just be careful, okay? Relationships between different Children rarely end well."

Kai knew what she was talking about. There were Children of the Night, Children of the Day, Children of the Angel and Children of the Devil.

Kaidence nods, grinning. "I'll be completely fine. Don't you worry, you're just like Xena." She says, voice choking a little. Frowning at herself, she grins at Hayley. "Don't wait up for me." She says lightly, high fiving the other girl and heading past her, back into the dim room.

The hybrid's name was Grayson, and she found herself grinning while conversing with him. He had a great aura, a warm and pulsing silver, not unlike her own, although more strong and bold. This had been the first time in a long time that she had smiled, actually smiled for herself. She got to know him better a bit that night, managing to land a second date.

Grabbing a sharpie which flies over to her hand (Angel knows from where) when she lifted it, she pulls off the cap with her teeth, grabbing his arm and scrawling her number on the smooth forearm along with her name.

"I have to go now. I'll see you around." Kai grins, throwing the sharpie where it flies back to where it came from.

He grins, nodding and waving as she leaves the club, feeling happy and lucky. She squeals as someone claps a hand on her shoulder, turning to punch them, only for them to grab her fist.

"Can you calm the hell down, it's only me!" Eric hisses, frowning.

"What the HELL, you don't DO that!" Kai retorts angrily, shaking her head as he tips his head back and laughs. She doesn't comment as they walk side by side to his motorbike.

"What?" He asks, watching her reaction to the giant vehicle, waiting for an impressed remark. Or so he hoped.

"Mine's better." She replies. "And I'm driving."

"Like hell you are," he replies, arms crossed.

She sits on the front seat, crossing her arms as well. "Don't make me throw you into a wall for the keys." She warns, but he doesn't respond.

Sighing through her nose at the unnecessary drama, she holds out her hand, the keys flying out of his pocket and into it.

"Hey!" He says indignantly, groaning before hopping onto the back of the motorbike.

"See, was that so hard?" She croons, revving the engine before speeding off, back to the Institute.

Kaidence was there for weeks, training and becoming the best Shadowhunter she could with her powers and her magic. Side by side, she went out with Grayson. He made her feel normal and safe, comfortable in her own skin.

She, in turn, was there for him whenever he needed her. They went out to many places, whether it was going to the movies, or killing demons, spending as much time as they could together. Guaranteed, the group were quiet and wary around him at first, but after seeing his genuine personality and how much Kai laughed around him, their hate lessened slightly.

Slightly. Eric and Hayley still hated Grayson with a fierce passion, but Kai didn't really care.

Regardless of how happy she was, Kaidence spent nights blankly staring at the silver necklace of Xena's, waiting for the hands to shift to a proper time instead of wildly rotating. It was one such night where she wondered often if Xena would ever take her back, after lying to her all these years.

"Hey, Gray." She says, poking him in the shoulder. He mumbles something incoherently, shifting a little before settling again. "Gray!" She says, poking him a little harder now, watching as he turns over in bed to face her.

"Why are you still awake?" He murmurs, voice deep and raspy with sleep. "Are you okay?" He then asks, sitting up while rubbing his eyes when seeing her expression.

"I wanted to ask you something." Kai says, snapping the pendant shut and placing it back around her neck. "Do you think it's possible to forgive someone even after all the horrible things the other person might have done?"

He is quiet for a minute, looking at her quizzically. "I'd say if the person cares about you enough," he says, slowly. "Then they would forgive you eventually, no matter how long it takes."

"No matter how long it takes." Kai repeats in a whisper.

"Now shall we sleep?" He jokes, lifting an arm where she gladly curls into him, absorbing his warmth.

"Yeah okay, Big Bad Wolf." She jokes back, smiling as she hears him laugh. It was a joke, a nickname between the two of them, considering the fact that he was half wolf and always tried to act tough.

"I'm turning tomorrow night...Full moon...I don't want you to be there." He says, frowning.

"I'm going to be there, Gray." Kai says gently, looking up at him. "After all you've done for me, how can I not be there?"

"But this is different, you could die if I mess up!" He protests, still frowning to himself.

"You won't. Don't worry about it." She soothes, nestling into his chest and sighing a little. "I'll be there the whole time."

To her word, she was there the next day as they headed far away from the Institute, far away from Cirrane, far away from society, to the woods, an abandoned place.

She had snuck out the window, him catching her and they had run to his car; not looking back as they speeded away from the building.

"Are you sure-" He says, gesturing to a trapdoor on the ground, swinging it open and coughing as dust flies up at him.

"Let's go. Before it's too late." She says, looking up at the rapidly darkening sky.

They head down the mud laden stairs to a cell. "You're going in there?" Kaidence asks, looking at the small area.

"In essence, yes." He says, heading into the cell, her following. He busies himself with snapping the chains and locks on around him, the chains bolting him to the wall.

"And now, we wait." He says pleasantly, although he runs a hand through his hair nervously. "Are you sure-"

"I'm sure!" Kai sighs, sitting on the stone floor with him.

The continue chatting aimlessly for a while, trying not to look at what was coming ahead.

He suddenly hunches over, shivering.

"Gray?" Kai says, immediately at his side. "Is it-"

"It is." He confirms, gasping and gritting his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut. "Get out, Kai, get out, please."

"I'm staying." Kaidence says, wrapping her arms round him as he curls up in them, sobbing.

"Don't stay, get out, please." He begs, sweating and shivering at the same time now. He howls in pain as his back arches, but Kai holds him tightly.

"It's okay, calm down, it's okay, I'm right here." She soothes, shaking herself slightly.

"Get out!" He says, one last time before his words collapse into guttural growling, his eyes flashing a bright gold.

Kaidence jumps back as he jumps up, body twisting and changing in front of her eyes.

He howls once again, before looking at Kai, fully transformed. "Grayson?" She says, trying not to show her fear at his appearance.

He snarls, a low and warning noise, and Kai couldn't help but panic, a little.

She slowly heads to the edge of the cell, turning once to unbolt the latch. That was her mistake, Grayson jumped at her back, scratching a long and deep mark there, his claws cutting through her clothing easily.

She screamed in pain, one hand on her back and one still trying to unbolt the damned latch.

She is thrown to the other side of the cell as she tries to scramble to her feet, to get up, to defend herself.

She threw a hand out as he attacked again, sending him flying into the ceiling of the cave, which gave her time to run and exit the cell, bolting the door shut and watching him repeatedly attack the cell door, trying to get to her.

He continues snarling, howling angrily at her.

She can't breathe, scrambling to see the injury, the main one. "I'm sorry, Gray, I'm sorry." She sobs when he jumps at her again, the metal door clanging. She runs out into the night, up the steps, collapsing a few feet from the entrance.

Dazedly, she is aware of someone running towards her, past her and going down into the cave. She hears howling and shouting, before the person is back, lifting her up gently. She looks up, expecting to see Christina maybe, or Hayley.

She is met with angry grey eyes that glare down at her. "You are in so much trouble."

The next few hours is a blur. Driving back on the bike, being lifted, placed on a large bed, Nikolai standing over her, golden sparks flying around the room and on her body, before a tonic is being shoved down her throat and she shakes, once, twice, before her eyes shutter once and close.

Nikolai sighs in relief, his hands coated in blood, bloody cloths nearby, blood everywhere. "Eric, keep an eye-" His words trail off as Eric waves a hand at him, grey eyes scanning Kai.

"I got it."

Nikolai nods, leaving the room and going to his study.

Frowning, he pulls out a piece of paper, scrawling a message down on it.

Xena,

I trust this letter finds you well.

I am Nikolai, the person in care of Kaidence since you threw her out.

I am afraid to say that she has been wounded in a werewolf attack, an accident.

I ask of you, regardless of how you may feel of Kai at this moment of time, to come through the portal that I will open for you. It would do Kai some good to have her mother figure here while she is healing. Despite how much she denies it, she misses you.

The Portal will be open at the Brooksknight Bridge, at approximately 10:39 p.m on the day that this message reaches you and transport you straight here. Don't be late.

With best regards,

Nikolai Elderwood,

High Mage of the Night District.

Signing it with a flourish, he throws it into the air, watching it as it catches fire on the way down.

It had gone through.

Sitting back in his winged armchair, he steepled his fingers, deep in thought; remembering the blood and screaming as he had to heal Kaidence.

Werewolf marks, whether bites or even scratches hurt like a bitch.

And she had three long gashes down her back.

He sat back, still in thought, and prayed that Xena had some kind of compassion in mind, eyes closing tiredly.


	12. 12: Xena - I’m Coming for You

Weeks had passed, maybe even months, with no word from Kaidence and though Xena knew she was safe, her gut churned with anxiety for her.

There was so little for Xena to do to help Kai. She couldn't find her. She couldn't reach her. It was a dead end that Xena could not push past.

With her rage subsided, Xena saw more clearly how out of line she had acted. And of course, Robert told her the exact same thing, even daring to rub it in her face.

He had been her emotional rock sinse Kaidence had left; comforting her when the house was empty at night and no one came home at the crack of dawn.

She took days off work to recover, her head spinning so violently that she couldn't focus on her paperwork nor discuss battle plans with clients in court. Her sick leave postponed several court cases and probably hurt her chances of judging but she just couldn't.

She remained numb for a long time, abandoning her physical body to join Robert in the skies to improve weather patterns. The world was amidst a drought at the moment, so Xena figured that some rain would suit her mood.

Coming home finally from fixing up the slightly neglected earth, Xena reunited with her smelly body and took the longest shower she had ever had.

Upon stepping out of the steaming water, knocks sounded at her door. She almost squealed with delight, shifting into warm clothes and tidying the place up in an instant, dashing to the door to open it up fully.

"Hello! Do you have a moment to talk about our lord and saviour Jesus Christ?"

The door slams just as quickly as it opened, the knockers not being able to finish their sentence.

Eye twitching, Xena yells into the empty apartment, "GOD ISN'T REAL, HE'S JUST A FIGMENT OF YOUR IMAGINATION THAT YOU CLING TO TO MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE YOU'RE MORE IN CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE! RELIGION DOESN'T EXIST! IT'S JUST RULES THAT TELL YOU THAT YOU WON'T DIE COMPLETELY!"

There are muffled gasps and murmuring from behind the closed door as Xena yells so hard she hurts her own throat.

Probably looking like a phyco, standing open legged and heaving in the middle of her lounge room, a second knock sounds.

Whipping around, suddenly furious, Xena throws open the door, "I don't want to hear about your fucking Jesus bullshit- oh."

A young man stands at the door, looking ragged and extremely tired. He has a thick layer of stubble littered over his jaw.

"I think I scared them off," he jabs a finger down the hall where the two religious recruiters stand, sending quick glances at Xena.

"Doubt it." Xena mumbles, scowling at the people, who scurry away.

The man chuckled darkly, facing Xena fully, "are you Xena?"

A blade was in Xena's hand immediately, "what's it to you?" She asks slowly, a hand behind her back concealing the metal.

"I'm looking for her." He lies through his teeth.

Lip curling, Xena grabs his ear and yanks him inside. Slamming him against the wall, she presses the knife against his throat, "you're a shitty liar."

"I'm not lying!" His hands fly up in surrender.

"Who are you!" Xena raises her voice, pressing the blade further into his neck.

"Grayson! My name is Grayson! I'm with Kai and I wanted to meet you!" He splutters, eyes closing.

Xena holds her grip on 'Grayson' for a few moments longer until she decides his pitiful anticipation is too pathetic to bear with and drops her arms, discarding the knife back into its respective place on the knife block.

Grayson let's out the breath he was holding and falls slack against the wall.

"Pathetic." Xena spits, walking around the kitchen island to pull out two glasses and filling them with water, "get up drink some water, all the blood just drained from your face."

A still dazed Grayson stands up from the wall and wobbles over to one of the bench seats to gulp down water, which Xena fills.

"I'll be back," she scans him up and down, rendering him useless for the moment.

Slamming her cup down, she marches to her room, waking Robert as she does.

Robert doesn't bother move into his human body, instead he floats in front of Xena, asking her quietly who was in the house.

Xena glares at the floor and answers him, gathering up some of Kai's clothes and packing them into a soft bag. If she couldn't find her, then he would.

Chucking the bag on the couch on her way out, Xena takes her place back in front on Grayson, who has recovered slightly and is eyeing the room.

"You all back buddy?" Xena raises and eyebrow at the boy.

Grayson jerks to face her fully, getting seemingly smaller under her scrutinising gaze.

"Where's Kaidence?" Is the simple question uttered into the air.

His face drops.

"I-" he starts, sighing with a frown, "I don't know exactly."

"How do you not know?" Xena frowns incredulously, "you've been dicky donkeying! How can you not even know where she is?"

"Dicky donkeying?" Grayson asks.

"I ought to slap you." Xena growls, "sex! Idiot, what's is she to you? A fuck buddy?"

Grayson jerks back in his chair, a look of outrage plastered on his face, "we're not like that. She's different." He sombres.

"I've met people like you. And it's very rare of them to change."

"I don't think you have," the boy mumbles, swirling the last remnants of water in his glass.

"How old do you think I am?" Xena asks carefully.

He gives her a quick glance and then grunts something about 'old'.

Xena barks out a laugh, "I'm older than your species."

Grayson's head snaps up, his neck cracking, "my

Species?"

"I'm older than hybrids, such as yourself." Xena comments lightly, waving a rampant spoon at him,"older than werewolves. Older than vampires. Even humans!" Xena laughs to herself.

Grayson looks like a mixture of horror and confusion as he stared blankly at Xena, who only chuckled more.

"Well! If you're not going to tell me anymore, you can leave." Xena slams her hands on the bench top, standing up straighter and pushing the now standing Grayson out of the door.

"Wait! I want to talk more. I need your help!" He tries to fight with Xena.

"Thank you for your time and I hope you had a wonderful time but I am terribly busy and have lots of other people waiting in line to talk to me." Xena speaks over him, shoving him out of the door and slamming it behind him.

"But-" he turns to speak but is met with an empty hallway.

Let's say that Xena has a good laugh that afternoon, although she can't say if it's maniacally or not.

A week had followed the wolf's visit to Xena and she had gone about her days just as she had before (mainly depriving herself of everything nice in the world including television and food in order to feel like she was being punished).

Court cases were at their height, Xena having a new one every day after she had taken so many days off. Her clients weren't all too happy, bus they still paid top dollar for her, so they couldn't complain.

However, it was a particular Wednesday that Xena felt uneasy and almost sick when she woke up. Like a switch had been flicked and suddenly she was having chesty pains and aches.

Suffering from diseases and other worldly problems was not a concern for Xena because her body was artificial and would last until her planet peaked, so these pains weren't in the physical but within the mental.

Disregarding the ache in the pit of her stomach, Xena scoffed some toast and packed her bag with papers before catching the bus to work.

The court case was simple and much to Xena's surprise, her client actually had money to spare (because he had little to no worldly possessions, let alone money). But hey, she wouldn't deny another pay check, although they were useless to her because all the money she earned went toward Kaidence.

She was midway through questioning the opposition however, when she was struck with a catastrophic wave of pain sparking in her chest and exploding in her head. She spluttered and clutched her chest, gasping slightly.

"Are you alright?" She could hear the judge ask, Xena walking slowly back to her desk to slump on it and take some shaky gulps of water.

One of the jury stand and make their way out of the stocks, making their way to Xena and announcing that they were a doctor.

The woman sits Xena down and pushes an ear into her chest, listening carefully.

Xena is struck with another tide of red hot pain, her keeling over and almost crushing the doctors head.

"I think you might be having a heart attack." The woman's eyes blow wide, eyebrows clenched.

"No, no" Xena grits between gasps, putting a shaky hand up to stop the woman, "it happens a lot, just let it pass."

Of course she was lying, but she had no other choice.

"I forgot to take my medication this morning, don't worry, just give me a - fuckin Christ!" Xena grunts before the pain doubles and she curses under her breath.

The courtroom is loud now, people chattering and cameras clicking furiously.

The judge silenced the court angrily, scolding the people for taking advantage of a person who is weakened. She then turns to Xena and dismisses her, saying that she is unfit to finish the questioning and that she shouldn't push herself too hard. The court case is pushed back a further two weeks.

Xena leaves the building feeling positively awful. Inwardly thanking herself that there were no uni students there to witness her.

"Xena!" Phoebe calls out from the crowd.

Fuck. Guess Phoebe was in the room.

"Oh my god, are you alright?" She catches up to Xena and lays two soft hands on her shoulders and examining her pale face and heaving breath, "I think we should take you to the doctor. That's not healthy. And why didn't you tell me you were on medication?" She frowns, looking concerned and slightly hurt.

"It's alright, don't worry. And I'm not on medication, I just didn't want to cause a scene. I just gotta- fuck!" Xena curses, grabbing Phoebe and holding onto her for dear life as her body convulses in shivers.

"Oh shit. Oh shit! Oh shit!" Phoebe holds onto Xena.

"Home. Please." Xena whispers through clenched teeth, trying to make herself lighter as her legs gave way from underneath her.

She woke up to a cold forehead and very warm feet.

Trying to move was a very risky move as Xena's chest was concaving in on itself without her even breathing. Nevertheless, the pulled and arm up to pull a cold washcloth off her head.

"No no no no, you need to keep that on." Phoebe's voice comes from the end of the bed, tugging the washcloth from out of Xena's grip and placing it back onto her head.

"'S 'Kay." Xena slurs, "doesn't hurt that much." She grunt, sitting up and feeling her whole body clench.

"No- okay, you're up." Phoebe tries to stop her, but she is left in vain when Xena hops up and walks to the kitchen.

"How long was I out for?" Xena asks, yanking and pouring some juice into a cup quite messily.

"All afternoon, night and this morning." Phoebe sits on one of the comfy bar stools and takes a sip of juice from Xena's cup.

"Mail?"

"Lots."

Xena huffs and pulls the mail from her door pulley, shuffling through it, "media, media, media, bills, fancy handwriting, bills - handwriting? Who handwrites anymore?" Xena frowns, pulling out an intricately written letter.

Scanning the letter, her frown deepens. "I did not 'kick her out', bastard." She grumbles, still unable to process what was going on and that the person who wrote the letter has her daughter (so to speak). "10:39 that's weirdly specific. Whas' the time?" Xena looks up to Phoebe who is contently drinking juice and listening in.

"7pm, why?"

"I gotta go somewhere at 10."

"You shouldn't be out of bed, let alone hitting the town!" Phoebe scolds, placing the glass down with a clunk.

"But it's Kaidence," Xena looks down at the letter tiredly, still brain dead.

Phoebe is at a loss for words, her eyes looking down in deep thought. "Only if I can go with you." She says strongly, having made a decision.

"I don't think you should. You might get into trouble." Xena's brow folds, a look of worry crossing her face.

"You shouldn't be putting yourself in any sort of situation. That's not good."

"This is really important. Don't worry, darl' I'm alright." Xena flashes a grin at Phoebe, who only sighs and agrees to let her go. "You can stay here until I come back if you want, there's plenty of food around." Xena offers, phoebe laughing at her lightheartedness.

It's dark when Xena reaches the bridge, her chest still aching faintly.

Only five minutes pass until a massive portal opens up in front of her, giving off waves of warmth and something that smells inherently like Chinese takeaway.

Seems legit she thinks to herself as she steps through, her nose leading the way...


	13. 13: Kaidence-Are you going to Apologise?

Kaidence wakes up screaming.

Her mind is full of horror and pain, and her head felt as if someone had cracked it in half and then decided to sew it back together with fairy floss.

Head still spinning from the additional discomfort of sitting up too quickly, she looks around the room, recognising it as the hospital wing.

What the hell was she doing here? She wondered, panning the room further and spotting Eric sleeping in a chair.

Picking up a nearby book (which was already an effort) she flung it over in his direction. A weak shot, but it slammed into his forehead, him sitting up and by her side in an instant.

"How are you?" He asks, arms crossed, the typical 'I really don't care' posture.

"First of all," Kaidence replies raspily, "damn you to the deepest, darkest corner of hell." She says, raising a finger. "And second, get me a glass of water. Warm water."

"First of all," he says, mocking her with the same expression. "This is the second time I'm saving your miserable self, and secondly, do I look like the sort of person who performs such menial tasks?"

Glaring at him, she tries to focus and bring her aura back down. Otherwise, who knew, she might send this idiot to hell herself. Taking a breath, she smiles sweetly at him.

"Well, I guess I owe you an apology." She says, voice still low and throaty. "Eric, thank you for interfering with my life once again and bringing me back here. Really, I thank you."

"He would have killed you!" Eric explodes, finally. "You were bleeding all over the steps back at the cell!"

"I can take care of myself." Kai snaps back. "I don't need some prince to come save me, or in your case, a bumbling, idiotic twit."

Nikolai comes in, frowning at the scene. "Settle DOWN." He bellows, hands on his hips. They quieten instantly, settling back with sulky faces.

"Kai, we tried sending Grayson over to Xena's place...he's back, and apparently Xena didn't exactly give a warm welcome." He says softer now, sitting on the side of Kai's bed.

"Oh." Kai says, slumping back in the giant pillows, wanting to sink into them and disappear. "So she's not coming?"

"The letter might still reach her." Grayson now says quietly, entering the room.

"You have some nerve to come in here after you hurt Kai." Eric hisses, standing up with a hand already at the kindjal by his side.

"Eric, sit your ass down." Kaidence snaps.

"No, he's right, I'm sorry." Grayson says, shrinking back a little. "I shouldn't have hurt you."

"And YOU shouldn't have been there in the FIRST PLACE." Eric comments, glaring back at Kai.

She makes an obscene gesture at him, Nikolai coughing amusedly.

"Look, it's my fault, okay? I shouldn't have been there, Grayson's right, and I didn't leave when he told me to." Kai admits, shrugging. "And don't you DARE RUB MY APOLOGY IN MY FACE, BLOODSTONE." She snaps at Eric who is smirking gleefully.

"Good lord, it's like a taller and more deadly version of Christina," Nikolai jokes, sitting back with his arms crossed.

"It's not your fault, not on your part." Kai says once again to Grayson who nods gratefully, sitting at the foot of the bed.

"Ah, young love," Nikolai says, sighing happily. "Although men were always more of my type." With that, he walks out the room.

"Wait, he's gay?" Kaidence says.

Eric shrugs. "He never actually elaborates on it, but yes."

They head out of the room, Kai trying to keep her back as straight as she could to avoid ripping out any stitches.

"You're back!" Christina says, running up and jumping onto her with a hug.

"Yep," Kai laughs as they head to Nikolai's study. "So what's going on?"

"Basically, you're back within our world, right?" Christina says. "So a lot of people want to meet you, to use you for your powers."

"But why me?" Kai protests.

"Because you're the only one alive that has telekinesis powers, idiot." Eric replies, shaking his head. "So we're having a meeting with Nikolai to decide whether to toss you out on the streets or not. Why is Twilight Jacob coming anyways?" He asks, jabbing a finger in Grayson's direction.

Kaidence chooses to glare at him. Frostily.

"Point taken," he amends quickly, raising his hands as they enter the study.

"Sit." Nikolai says, clicking his fingers as comfy armchairs appear scattered in a circle. Another snap has a cup of hot chocolate in everyone's hands. "I made the drinks too!" He says happily, sitting in the largest chair.

"So what's the plan?" Hayley asks, sitting on a chair.

"We lay low. We still don't know when He will come for Kai." Nikolai says, nodding in Kaidence's direction.

"And you're certain that he's going for her." Chris says, frowning.

"Almost 100%." Nikolai says pleasantly, taking a sip of his hot chocolate.

"How are you so calm about this?" Christina demands, who looks like she had never been calm in her life.

"My dear, I merely said that He will come for her. We don't know when or how. And it's best for Him not to know that we are aware of anything." Nikolai says. And in that moment, Kai saw him in the full glory he had. Guaranteed, he was kind and a smart mage, but he was older than any of them, he was wily and cunning; trying to find the best ways for them all to survive. His aura was a bright blue, the colour of wisdom and strength.

"So what do we do now then?" Chris asks.

"We sit, and we wait. He will make the first move, and we should be prepared for it." Nikolai replies, a biscuit flying to his hand. "Till then, we should stay alert. I've put wards around the building, that should keep us safe enough, but still stay on your toes."

They all nod grimly, and in that moment, Kaidence felt the weight of the words and the responsibility hit her. She was never going back.


	14. 14: Xena - My Baby

The room is extremely bright and Xena could swear that she went blind for a solid two minutes.

Stepping out of the haze of her own eyes, Xena locates a door and steps through, "fucking hell," Xena stops short, eyes falling upon the hallway she had just entered.

Bright, intricate depictions of war and other such battles were sculpted into the roof and cornices. The intricacies of said sculptors were astonishing, Xena taking a moment to watch as the stone rippled in the faux wind, almost seeming real.

"Ahem," There is a soft cough.

Xena pulls her eyes away from the carvings and turns to a slender looking man with greying hair with whom is wearing a deep green suit with black trimmings, "ah! You must be Nikolai, terribly sorry for my intrusion." She greets, composing herself and taking his hand to shake it.

"It's quite alright. It's lovely to meet you. I'm glad you came, Kaidence would have been disappointed." Nikolai smiles knowingly, noting Xena's changing face when he mentioned Kaidence, "I'll take you to see her,"

Xena purses her lips and follows along.

Nikolai stops outside a large set of doors, pausing to look at Xena, hand planted on the door, "she's still sleeping and pretty weak, doctors have asked that we don't wake her." He warns, gently opening the door.

There are rows upon rows of beds strewn all over the room, each and every one of them empty apart from one.

Kaidence is pale and sunken, bags under eyes glaringly obvious to the two adults standing above her.

Xena almost has to do a double take, her breath coming out of her in a whoosh as her little girl lays helpless under her.

"I'm truly sorry for not contacting you earlier, but your relationship to her was too unknown and fragile for me to step in." Nikolai says quietly from beside her.

Xena nods and tucks a stray hair from Kaidence's face behind her ear. "She had a locket. Where is it?" She suddenly sounds alarmed when she sees that Kaidence's neck is bare.

"I don't know, she did not come to the infirmary with one." Nikolai cocks a brow.

"Oh fuck." Xena curses under her breath, knowing that Nikolai heard her.

"Is everything alright?"

"How long has she been here?" She turns to the greying man, eyes searching.

"Around two and a half weeks ago," he informs, "us there something important about this locket?"

"Yes! It's very important. When and where was she found?" Xena is now urgent, using all of her willpower to stop her from raising her voice.

"She was found in the woods on the east outskirts of town, the same time she was brought here. It's not a very popular place." Nikolai looks thoroughly confused.

"I'm so sorry, but I need to go." Xena almost bows in shame, hands fiddling in need to exit, "is there any way I can return here?"

"Oh, uh, yes. Here, this should tell you everything." Nikolai hands her a card, brows still furrowed.

Xena turns and walks out the room briskly, whereupon she breaks out into a sprint when she reaches the hallway, locating the front door and bursting through it, immediately vanishing her human form back to the apartment and zooming off in the ways of the wood.


	15. 15: Kaidence - Its Alright

The days passed slowly. One day, in a fit of annoyance of just training every day and the same boring repeated life, she decides to buy an apartment.

When Hayley frowned at the fact that she'd be staying alone, she had pointed out the fact that Grayson would be moving in with her.

That had not made Hayley any happier, though she was secretly relieved that Kaidence would not be staying on her own.

Kaidence had patched things up with Xena a little, although she could still tell that Xena was mad at her. Thus, she had decided to give her some space.

It was about a week later when she found the perfect apartment, spacious and comfortable. High up in one of the more classy suburbs of Manhattan, she found solace and peace in the apartment, it was the perfect space for her.

She bought it with ease, both her and Grayson chipping in with their saved up money. They moved in within a few days, courtesy of Kai's telekinesis powers.

She spent days moving around the apartment, busy busy busy with moving boxes in and out the rooms, setting things up for a housewarming party.

Grayson had found the idea ludicrous. "You have Satan's son after you and you want to throw a party?" He had asked in disbelief, grey eyes wide.

"I'm going to live my life as normally and to the best I can," Kai had replied, pulling her hair into a messy bun and placing her hands on her hips. "Don't worry, we'll be fine." She says, softer now as she looks at his worried face, worried for her; not for himself.

Sighing, he nodded and together they had continued with unpacking, placing warm rugs and even stocking up the fireplace they had for the cold months ahead. Contrasting this, they put up bright, abstract paintings, filling up the space with as much happiness as they could.

A week later, they threw a housewarming party, something small and select for their closest friends.

People trickled in slowly, starting with the whole Group and then Xena and Phoebe, who Kaidence was desperate to meet, arrived. "Congratulations." Xena murmurs, pressing a kiss on the side of Kai's forehead and handing her a wrapped gift, smiling. "Nice to meet you." Phoebe grins, a woman that Kai likes and approves of immediately.

The house is soon full of chatter and laughter, as some of Grayson's pack join as well, grinning and slapping his back as well as hugging Kaidence.

The group move outside, Grayson having brought out a barbeque and the smell of roasting meat soon fills the cold air, the faces of people lit up with the twinkling fairy lights strung up outside, laughing and sipping at glasses of champagne.

Kaidence is smiling and chatting with Christina, Hayley, Xena and Phoebe who are all dutifully groaning in pleasure at the taste of the lamb kebabs.

She suddenly doubles over, heaving for breath as a sudden pain shoots up her body. Her brain swoops for a few seconds, like she was in an elevator, before her eyes open, blinking back sparks that danced across her vision. She sees a dark figure, standing, just watching her before her head crackles with invisible lightning again and she is back at the party. Swallowing down a scream, she straightens again.

"You good?" Xena asks, concerned and by her side instantly.

"Yeah, just a little dizzy from the smoke and stuff." Kai mutter back, swallowing down a glass of champagne.

The party slowly dies down, late in the night and everyone leaves the apartment, slightly tipsier than they had arrived but happy.

She spends the first night in the apartment lying in bed, her body turned so she could see the stars outside through the open window. A sudden breeze wafts through the room, and she shivers, turning away from the window and pulling the quilt up higher over herself, moving her body closer to Grayson who in turn slips a warm arm around her waist.

Her eyes slowly shutter closed, and a crow outside on the ledge lets out a dismal cry, flying back to it's master.


	16. 16: Xena - Oh sweet jesus, dont be gone

The ground is thoroughly covered in leaves and the night sky doesn't aid in her search.

It must be terribly awful to see a white light rifling through trash and leaves for a piece of silver, but the urgency was so overwhelming that Xena couldn't really give a shit.

The house in which Kaidence was found (Xena knew because she could sense her and her blood from a mile away) was empty, Xena overturning every single piece of straw over to find the locket.

Her body pulsed slightly in its direction but it was so weak that Xena only knew that it was near.

Grunting expletives at the leaves she overturned and apologising to the various insects she dehomed, Xena searches for a solid four hours, rustling and bustling around the perimeter of the house.

It was almost dawn when she stopped.

And it was almost dawn when there was a rustle.

If she was in a human body, she would have broken her neck. She whipped around so fast to see a young person with a camera, the infernal thing rolling as she turned to come face to face with the boy.

The look of pure horror on the boy's face was almost laughable as Xena flew toward him with great speed. He practically pissed himself.

He ran from her in a bid to escape, but with his hunger for film, he kept his camera facing Xena as she easily caught him, throwing him forward into the trunk of a rather large tree.

Xena made sure to not damage his head or break too many bones, and proceeded to search the boy.

He was unconscious for a good minute before he realised that a supernatural being was searching him. Xena took no notice as he slowly picked up the camera and filmed the whole thing.

Xena went through every pocket on him, shirt, pants, hell, even his camera bag. But to no avail, found the locket. However, a strange and utterly terrifying thought came to mind. Maybe he swallowed it?

She hated possession. It made her feel sick to the stomach. But the locket was too important to lose.

By ways of his mouth, she entered his body with a disgusting squelch. He didn't eat well, his guy filled with rotting (or lack thereof) junk food and soda. Practically gagging, she made the move further into his system.

Let's just say, she came up empty stomached.

All hope lost, Xena exits the body and sits in front of the boy to wait for him to regain control. The dazed look in his eyes faded slowly, and he comes to terms with the fact that she is searching for something.

He seems genuinely dumbstruck when she just sits in front of him looking blue, her form literally sagging.

"Are you looking for this?" He asks slowly after some time of thinking, producing the necklace, he tugging the chain from out of his underpants.

Red hot rage and disgust fill Xena, her form spastically twitching as she snatches it from out of the boy's hands. Scowling as best she can, she wipes his camera and gives him a good slap on the face before disappearing into the brush.

Watching him dazedly leave the woods was a queue for Xena to make her exit, her making her way back to her inner city apartment.

Phoebe had stayed true to her word and kept the place warm for Xena, the lounge room filled with ambient light upon entering.

Xena passed as quietly as she could past the sleeping Phoebe and into her room, pushing herself back into her body and waking Robert.

Jerking her head in the direction of the kitchen, Robert follows her out of her room and pours himself some orange juice (as it was properly morning now).

Pressing a finger on her lips, she shushes Robert as she crouches by Phoebe who lays unconscious on the couch, half a blanket draped over her legs.

Laying gentle hands on the crook of Phoebe's neck and under her jaw, Xena traces light patterns on her skin and whispers soft 'good mornings' and 'wake up darling's.

Dreary and red eyed, Phoebe smiles with closed eyes and rests her hands over Xena's, "good morning," she whispers, still waking up.

"Good morning," Xena smiles in return, pressing a feather light kiss to her forehead, "breakfast will be soon, I've got pineapple juice," she coos.

"Mmm!" Phoebe hums approvingly, reaching her arms out to stretch.

Xena chuckles, "couch stiff,"

"Oi,"

Xena stands and pours a glass of juice for herself and for Phoebe, Robert standing next to Xena looking shocked and somewhat alarmed.

Xena brushes him off.

The succession of the morning is spent in light conversation, Xena sort of introducing Phoebe to Robert and visa versa, although they had already seen each other about.

Breakfast was eggs and bacon on toast with plentiful amounts of pineapple juice and hot chocolate.

Midway through morning, Xena excuses herself and heads to the institute to see Kaidence once more.

Her walk to the Institution gave Xena some proper thinking time.

Had she have been more attentive and less unwilling and hesitant to look for Kaidence, none of this would have happened.

Her girl wouldn't be in a hospital bed. She wouldn't have been fighting for her life.

She could have been safe goddamnit! All because of Xena's selfishness had all this pain come to be.

She could only shrug it off now, because her powers, though powerful, we're not enough to alter the fabric of time.

How could she dwell on such things? There was no stopping it now. She just needed a way to resolve things and handle the situation at hand.

Stepping through the giant front doors, Xena steps through the door to meet Nikolai who is in waiting of her. He smiles and holds out an arm to her in which she takes and informs that Kaidence is our but he and some others are amidst a meeting.

Nikolai leads her through endless hallways to a large library room with a hollowed centre in which a group of four are gathered, two boys, one being Grayson and two girls that Xena hadn't met.

"Everyone, this is Kaidence's guardian, Xena," Nikolai smiles sweetly at the four who look accusingly suspicious. "Xena, this is Christina, Hayley, Eric and you already know Grayson,"

The air is tense and stony. Xena feels like a neon light in a back alley.

Unfazed, Nikolai claps his hands together and throws some documents onto the table, some of them looking terribly legal.

"We need go discuss some things about Kaidence." He starts, hands resting lightly on the deep oak table.

"No shit," Eric mutters.

"Shut up Eric, no one wants to hear your bullshit," one of the girls bark, waving him off.

"Thank you Hayley. Anyway, we all know that she's not in the best state of mind at the moment after the attack and has been experiencing severe headaches since."

"No thanks to wolfie boy here," Eric grunts, jerking his head toward the Grayson boy.

"That's enough Eric, that was out of Grayson's control." Nikolai scolds.

"Wait, he mauled my daughter?" Xena suddenly says through the chatter, making a hand gesture to Grayson.

"Technically-" Nikolai starts.

"Yes." Eric rolls his eyes, "she was going to find out sooner or later," he shrugs when Nikolai sends him a look so dirty that Xena can almost see through the red that has glazed over her eyes.

Foot gripping on the table, Xena propels herself at Grayson, sending him to the other end of the room, her hand clamped around his neck, "give me one good reason why I shouldn't crush your windpipe as we stand,"

"Holy shit! You didn't say she was useful!" Eric laughs from across the room, watching as the other three jog urgently over to Xena who is steadily adding pressure to the bones in Grayson's neck.

"I didn't think she had anything like this," Nikolai turns and speaks under regular tone to Eric, still sending him daggers.

Grayson claws helplessly at Xena's hands, claws not even leaving marks on her stell skin.

"Xena! Please, we don't want to have to file a killing," Nikolai reasons, holding a hand up to Eric.

"I won't kill him." Xena grunts.

"This bitch is nuts!" Chris laughs but is cut short when his lips fuse together.

"Who are you to think that she could handle something like that huh! In what world could she handle an attack like that without prior training!" Xena loosens her grip on Grayson's neck ever so slightly so he can take a breath before slamming him repeatedly against the wall with each bark of her words.

Grayson just gurgles in response.

"I thought so! I swear to god if you were in heat when you messed with my daughter, you would already be dead. Fuck, I could even kill you now." Xena growls, lips curling, "you cannot begin to describe what shit she's been through and what shit I won't go through to keep her safe. Do you understand? Because I swear to god if she comes to me crying, your body will not be found." She snarls, eyes boring into Grayson's as his lips go blue.

"Xena. Please." Nikolai's voice rings like a bell, and Xena relinquishes her grip and let's his limp body slump to the floor.

All three onlookers look utterly horrified and scared shitless. Eric is clawing at his lips, in which Xena unseals with a flick of her hand.

"I'm not here to be nice and have tea parties. I'm here to keep Kai safe. She is the single most important thing to me and I swear on the divine beings that if she comes to harm, I will be the first to dish the punishment." Xena states stonily at the group, who are helping Grayson up. "She is her own woman but she is far more important than you know and I hope for your sake that you see that as well. I'm going to take my leave. Thank you for your hospitality and I hope to see you in better circumstances." Xena dips her head at Nikolai, trying despite her rage to be polite and steps calmly out of the room and to the infirmary.

The hall is quiet now, the only voices present being the ones Xena had just left behind. Thank god the infirmary was a ways away, so Kaidence wouldn't have been able to hear the scuffle.

God Xena hated when people weren't cooperative.

Pushing open the doors to the infirmary once again, Xena pulls the (now clean) locket from her breast pocket and fastens it neatly around Kaidence's neck, taking a moment to delicately enchant it to stay on her neck permanently unless she chooses to take it off.

Sitting tiredly in the chair next to Kaidence, Xena's head falls into her hands.


	17. 18: Kaidence - Lets Talk it out

Kaidence sits alone at a table, waiting for Xena to arrive. Dressed in an oversized, cream turtleneck with black leggings and combat boots, she fiddled with a loose string idly while examining the menu.

She was at Bambi's, a supernatural cafe downtown. It had been covered with a sheet of magic, looking like an abandoned casino for the humans on the outside.

Inside, it was a cafe com bar. A place that Christina had shown her, she had warmed to it immediately, liking the rustic feeling, the beanbags spread haphazardly around the room, the Western styled bar, the types of beings she got to see enter and leave.

Right on time, Xena entered the room, her hair currently a neon pink and in a chignon, dressed in warm clothes, suiting the weather outside.

Kaidence smiled, waving her over and watched as Xena grinned in turn, weaving through the crowded space to the table.

"I've missed you," she says, choking a little as Xena ruffles her hair before sitting down.

"Same." Xena replies smiling a little as she sits back in the chair, looking over Kaidence. "Everything's changed now, hasn't it." She says, cocking her head a little as she examines Kai carefully.

"Quite a bit." Kaidence breathes, another wave of exhaustion hitting her. "You didn't tell me anything."

Xena looks up, surprised. Her tone had been petulant, accusing. "Didn't tell you anything?"

"You didn't tell me you were a shapeshifter." Kai replies, frowning as she traced the corner of the menu. "Or that you could read minds."

"How did you-"

"Nikolai told me." Kai replies flatly, bracing her arms on the table.

Xena is silent. "I didn't know when to tell you, how to tell you-"

"And yet you kicked me out of the house because you claimed that I never told you anything." Kaidence replies. "Do you know how unfair that was?"

"You came to me looking for refuge! For safety! I had no obligation of telling you anything!" Xena hisses, trying to control her temper.

"I came to you looking for a home," Kaidence replies softly.

There is quiet.

"Can we please leave this all behind us. Help each other from this point on, please." Kai says, looking at her with wide eyes.

Xena nods, deciding to give her one more chance.

Kaidence smiles, sitting back in relief. They converse lightly for a while, before she decides to tell Xena.

"Xena, I've been receiving these visions." She says, her face pale as it could be. "Of hell and destruction, of the end of the worlds as we know it."

Xena watches Kai's face as she blanches, shaking her head weakly.

"Kaidence, what's happening to you?" Xena asks slowly, pulling Kaidence out the cafe and into the darkened street.

Kaidence shakes her head, slumping forward into Xena's arms.

The world was an endless void of black and grey. She was thrown into a room, a throne room that looked something out of a fairy tale, except it was darkened, the curtains closed to block the light, the colour schemes dark and moody.

She turns to see a dark figure approaching, the same figure that had haunted her dreams and waking moments these past few weeks.

"Come out." She says, gritting her teeth. "Come and face me."

The figure stops, before approaching again, face soon bathed in the candlelight. Handsome features, with a shock of black hair and light, grey eyes. Long, aristocratic limbs with a tall figure and a lopsided smile.

"But I have been waiting for a while." He says, voice deep and dark, like wine.

"So it's you everyone is worried about." Kaidence scoffs, leaning against a pillar with hands in her pockets.

He shrugs, a long and graceful movement. "They have no reason to. You will come to me when you need to. And I will wait here."

"Who even are you? What is your name?" Kaidence asks, straightening.

"I am the Prince of Hell." He replies, and his voice sends a shiver down Kai's spine. "I have a name. Raphael."

"'God has given'?" Kai says, with amusement. "Funny name for someone that is damned to the underworld."

"But why not Raphael? God did give indeed: a balance to his power, Satan and the Underworld. And I was born in this world. Therefore, God has given." Raphael replies, shrugging again. "You must go now, you have already spent enough time here." He says, the landscape blurring and distorting. A final gesture, he places his hand on her shoulder, near her collarbone. "You will come in your time of need." He says gravely. "And I will wait. Until then..."

She wakes up in a taxi, Xena above her. "We're going to your apartment, don't worry." She soothes, patting her shoulder.

As soon as she gets home, she locks herself in the bathroom, to Xena's astonishment. Running to the mirror, she pulls back the sweater, sinking a little when she sees words that had appeared, inked over her skin where He had touched her.

"Semper Fidelis."

"Always faithful." She mutters to herself, slumping on the edge of the bathtub, her head in her hands.

Guaranteed, Kaidence was a lot quieter when she found out about the tattoo. She had already tried scrubbing it off, but it seemed to get darker by the day, inked and latched on to her skin.

"I don't know what it is." Nikolai confesses, shrugging a little after she shows it to him. "But I would count yourself lucky that he didn't smite you where you stood."

Kaidence had merely sighed, shaking her head before smiling a little. "Well, thank you anyways." She says, taking a sip of his lukewarm raspberry and vanilla patchouli tea.

She had spent a lot of evenings in his study, poring over books with him, trying to find protective wards, charms to keep the evil spirits away.

They had made a half circle of candles and lit heavenly incense around the doorway of the study to keep demons out, and Kaidence felt a wave of safety wash over her every time she entered the study.

"Have you had any of the attacks again?" Nikolai asks, flipping through a tome: "Spells of the Wicked and the Woeful."

"Not recently," Kai replies, sitting back and reading a giant volume: "Werewolves: A History and All You Need To Know."

"Anything specific you're looking for?" Nikolai asks, bright eyes flicking over the text she was reading.

"No, just brushing up on stuff." Kaidence replies, deep into a chapter about wolfsbane and its effects. "Probably a good idea to know some stuff since you know...I'm dating one."

He laughs, a chiming, lovely sound. "A good idea." He agrees, moving onto another giant and dusty book: "How to turn Everyday Items into Protective Enchantments."

"I'd better get back to the apartment." Kai says, looking at the already dark sky.

"I'll get Hayley and Christina to come along with you." Nikolai says, smiling as she levitates some giant and heavy books into a small bag with an expansion charm on it, something Nikolai had picked up from Harry Potter.

"People do not realise that spells and enchantments they write about in books are usually real." Nikolai comments, as he had performed the spell on her handbag. "People like J.K. Rowling, they're amazing. They still have some of the seer power left in them, a faint remembrance of the Magic there was."

With the bag strap levitating a centimetre above her shoulder (so she didn't actually have to hold it), she set off to the subway with Hayley and Christina chattering idly with her.

"So we're planning to have a party, you should definitely invite Xena and Phoebe!" Christina chirps as they stand on the train, holding the straps above to keep them steady.

"Of course," Kaidence replies, smiling as they head off the subway, straight to the apartment. "Would you guys like to stay for dinner? I'm making spaghetti." She says, watching their expressions.

"Yes, yes, food." Christina agrees hungrily, stomach rumbling a little as they entered the apartment. "Is...Is something burning?" She asks, nose twitching a little at the smoky smell.

Kaidence runs to the kitchen to find Grayson covered in flour, salt, and what looked like tabasco sauce. "What are you doing?" She asks amused as she looks around the kitchen that resembled a war plain. Something was burning in the oven, and about three pots were bubbling over on the stovetop. Kai was surprised the fire alarm hadn't gone off yet, along with the sprinklers.

"I tried to make dinner," he replies mournfully, frowning at the mess as if he wasn't sure how it became that way in the first place.

"Just...go have a shower, okay? I'll make dinner. Hayley and Christina are joining as well." Kai says, laughing at his brooding expression.

She was able to clear the mess in about fifteen minutes, kudos to her telekinesis powers, all the pots and pans scrubbing at themselves in the sink while a sponge cleared the countertop of the floury mess. Finally, she started on dinner, making a giant pot of spaghetti.

Hayley and Christina sit on the now squeaky clean benchtop, chatting with her idly and Kai slapping their hands away whenever it got in a five foot radius to the simmering pot.

"Hey you guys," Grayson says, entering the kitchen with a small wave at Hayley and Christina, the remnants of flour and food condiments gone.

"Hola!" Christina says, with a smile from Hayley. "Ready for full moon tomorrow?" She pipes.

"Don't remind me." He replies, grabbing a glass of water. "You're not coming." He says, shooting a look at Kaidence.

"Relax, I never said anything!" She replies, tasting the sauce and adding more salt.

"You were thinking it," he replies with a grin, to which she rolls her eyes.

"I have some light reading to catch up on anyways." She says, nodding to the giant pile of books that were slowly lying out of her bag and landing on the coffee table near the couch with a thud.

"Light reading?!" Christina says, gaping at the amount of books and the thickness of them. "That one's thicker than my arm!"

"I have time to kill after work, so why not?" Kai asks. "To be fair, I missed over ten years of Shadowhunter training, so it all works out."

They continue eating, chatting lightly about topics such as preparations for any random attacks as well as the amount of random killings that seemed to be occurring around Manhattan lately.

"Well, we'd better head off," Hayley says, after a dessert of apple crumble. "We'll see you tomorrow?"

"In the evening, yes." Kaidence says, closing the dishwasher. "I'll probably head over to the Institute after work, on second thoughts I don't want to stay here alone for the night." She says, shooting a side glance at Grayson, as to which he shrugs.

"Sorry, you know I can't stay back," he says apologetically, to which the two girls nod.

"It's not a problem. We'll see you-" Christina's words are cut off as Kaidence falls, Grayson just catching her before she hits the floor.

"What's wrong with her?" She demands, as he picks her up, heading to their bedroom.

"The same demon attacks," he replies shortly going to get a glass of water and shooing the out of the room.

"You know what, f*ck this, I'm staying the night." Hayley says, sitting on the couch.

"Me too." Christina says, sitting on the plush rug.

He sighs, but says nothing, heading back into the bedroom with the glass. "Kai?" He says softly, sitting on the bed near her.

"Why does this keep happening to me?" She demands Raphael, following him through multiple rooms.

"Because you're not giving up and coming here by your free will." He replies.

"I'm not going to just leave my family and friends behind! I have a group of friends! I have a boyfriend! You can't keep knocking me out and bringing me to this...this hellish place!" She says, kicking over an ornate vase which shatters.

He snarls. "I care nothing about your life. I only want your powers. And I will get them one way or another." He steps closer, eyes glinting dangerously. "I'm going to keep knocking you out. Until you decide to finally give up and come here." His eyes flick to the tattoo peeking through her shirt. "That's a reminder."

She rolls her eyes. "How dramatic. Listen up, a*shole; as I shall now affectionately call you. You can knock me out as many times as you want, but you're not getting me or my powers."

"And what about your family? Your friends?" He asks mockingly.

"They'll be fine," she says, teeth gritted.

He examines her for a long minute before shaking his head wearily. "Very well, you've asked for it."

"Asked for what?" She asks, but as per usual, he doesn't reply as he turns away.

The next few seconds, she is thrown through a torrent of memories, each worse than the last, and a few visions.

"Don't say I didn't warn you."

She wakes up gasping.

"Kai? Kai!" Grayson says, placing the glass of water on the bedside table and watching as she grabs him in a hug, burying her face in his chest. "What's wrong, are you okay?"

She nods, which makes him loosen his grip on her slightly as he wraps his arms around her. "I'm sorry, we'll figure something out." He says softly, her nodding again as they stay like that, rocking for a while. When he's sure that she's asleep, he lowers her to the bed gently, pressing a kiss to her forehead before going to wash up for bed and to check on Hayley and Christina.

He leaves the door open a crack, a sliver of the pale light filtering through the room and up to the windowsill, a black feather only being the remnant of the bird which had just flown away.

Kaidence wakes up with a splitting headache.

"Good morning." She says, poking Grayson who murmurs something in reply, grabbing her arm and pulling her onto him.

"How are you feeling?" He asks, voice raspy.

"Better after sleeping a bit." She lies. "Now let go, I have to go to work."

"Stay for a bit." He says, tracing long fingers along her jawline.

"Ha, no." She says, getting up and heading to get changed. "What's your plan?"

"Going to see how the pack's doing. Probably investigate some of those random killings. Place some of the wolves at places of concern." Grayson replies, sitting up and stretching. "And then I'll be back tomorrow morning."

"You sure you'll be fine?" Kai asks, zipping up the back of her navy blue dress.

"Yes. And you're not coming anyways. So I'll be even better." He replies.

"Hey!" She says, brushing her hair.

"You're not getting hurt again. Not on my watch." He says, getting out of bed.

"I won't." Kaidence says, picking up her bike keys. "Now, I'm going before I really get late." She says, giving him a kiss before she heads out the apartment, closing the door behind her.

"Do you have the mandrake?" Nikolai says as ways of greeting as Kaidence enters the study.

"Of course," Kai replies, pulling the tiny vial out of her bag and handing it to him.

"We'll need it for some of the enchantments. I'm making them a little stronger, since the simpler ones aren't really working." He says, glasses on as he peers into a smoking pot.

"Is that it?" She asks, looking inside and seeing a bubbling liquid.

"No, I actually made some lemon and coconut infused tea. Would you like some?" He pipes, pouring a cup for her anyways.

Kaidence laughs, accepting it along with one of his giant cookies and goes to her favourite couch, starting up with her reading.

"It's delicious." She confirms, Nikolai smiling and going back to his potion making.

She continues with her reading, occasionally asking him for help with terms and ideas here and there.

"He'll be fine, don't worry." Nikolai says soothingly as she stares outside at the full moon coming out behind a cloud.

"Yes, of course he will." Kaidence says, more to herself as she continues with her reading.

On cue, Eric enters the study, sniffing once at the candles and incense lit up around the doorway before heading straight to Nikolai.

"Oh lovely, Sleeping Beauty's here." He says, referring to her and her fainting spells.

"Oh look, the ignorant asshole prick that no one cares about is here too!" She replies, not looking up and flipping a page.

"Yes, Eric?" Nikolai asks before he can snark back, knowing that this argument would just keep going, knowing the two.

"There've been more attacks. Random, not related, throughout the city." Eric says. "You going to help too, Sleepy?"

"Sure will, dipsh*t." Kaidence replies, bouncing up and heading to Nikolai's large desk.

She looks over at the list of people murdered, at the places killed and when.

"How can I help?" She asks.

"It'll not be easy, these are all brutal murders, it'll require late nights and a lot of time during the day." Nikolai warns, to which she shrugs.

"I'm born into it. Besides, I like coffee." She says, grinning.

"And, you'll have to work with me." Eric says, grinning back.

"Never mind then," she jokes, but scans the list of names again.

"They're all over America." She says. "Are you sure this isn't just a random serial killer?"

"All the murders had traces of magic around them. This isn't just your casual Norman Bates making his way downtown, this is someone with serious magic potential."

"Making his way downtown?" Kaidence says amusedly.

"Oh shut up, Princess." He shakes his head while rolling his eyes.

"Either ways," Nikolai says tiredly, giving up on these two and their bickering. "The person is dangerous, and I wouldn't put Raphael out of mind yet." He adds, shooting a look at Kaidence to see her reaction.

She merely shrugs.

"Fine, I'll put you two up for investigating, but that doesn't mean you stick your necks out to get information." He threatens. "If you get hurt, you'll never leave the Institute ever again."

"I know, I know." Eric says, blowing out an exaggerated sigh. "So you can see more of my lovely face."

Kaidence rolls her eyes. "Okay, that's great, are there any lead-" before she could finish, they hear a giant gong through the building.

"Someone's here. Bad news." Nikolai mutters before speed walking out the room, heading downstairs.

"How does he-" Kaidence starts again.

"Seer." Eric replies before hurrying after Nikolai, Kaidence running to keep up.

"What's going on?" Kaidence asks, seeing everyone around her.

"Bad news. Someone's been hurt or something." Hayley replies, arriving straight after her and tying her hair up into a high ponytail.

Kaidence pushes to get to the front of the commotion and gasps.

She ran straight to the body that was placed there.

Dinah.

Her body lay broken in many angles, as if she had been beaten brutally before her throat had been slit, the skin still bright with faint lines around the scars.

She had only been her receptionist.

"Kaidence?" She looks up to see Grayson, his face weary and tired.

"What are you doing here?" Kai asks, before looking up at the early light spilling through the large windows.

Looking at him again, she saw the blood stained across his shirt, across his hands, spotted even on his face.

"I didn't do it, I swear." Grayson says calmly, as Nikolai comes up to him, placing his hands on either side of his forehead.

"He's telling the truth," Nikolai confirms, looking over the body again.

"But why Dinah? She's just my receptionist, she's not anyone important at all," Kaidence says, closing her wide open and glassy eyes.

She sits back down cross legged, staring blankly at the body.

"Wait."

Stretching a shaking arm forward, she pushes back her dress near her neck, exposing her collarbone.

"Shit." Christina says from behind her, pressing a hand to her mouth.

The light from the windows was weak, but enough for Kai to see what was tattooed across her collarbone in angry black strokes.

Tick tick, time's up.


End file.
